The United States announced Wednesday it would reinstate aid to Somalia after authorities in the East African nation took responsibility for actions earlier this month that interfered with aid distribution.
Despite the U.S. assertion that Somalia had admitted accountability for disrupting World Food Program aid at Mogadishu Port, which led to the suspension, the Somali government neither confirmed the claim on Wednesday nor immediately replied to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Although the suspension has been lifted, it remains uncertain when aid shipments will continue. The WFP did not provide immediate responses to inquiries.
The U.S. State Department announced January 7 that it had halted all assistance to Somalia’s federal government due to accusations that Somali officials had demolished a U.S.-funded warehouse belonging to the WFP, a United Nations agency, and seized 75 metric tons (82 tons) of food aid meant for impoverished civilians.
The WFP previously stated that its warehouse had been destroyed by Somali authorities. The facility contained specialized nourishment for malnourished young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The organization later reported it had recovered the food without offering further details.
Somalia’s Foreign Ministry rejected the U.S. allegation, asserting that port expansion and construction projects had not impacted the custody or distribution of humanitarian assistance.
The State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance published a statement Wednesday on social media platform X indicating the U.S. will “resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
The statement emphasized that the Trump administration has zero tolerance for “waste, theft, or diversion of U.S. resources.”
The U.S. suspension occurred as the Trump administration has intensified criticism of Somali refugees and migrants in the U.S., including fraud allegations related to child care centers in Minnesota. The administration has implemented substantial restrictions on Somalis attempting to enter or remain in the country.
Somalia, situated in the Horn of Africa, ranks among the world’s most impoverished nations and has endured chronic conflict and insecurity for decades, compounded by numerous natural disasters such as severe droughts.
