A team of Health Practitioners jetted off to El-Barde to control severe diarrhea outbreak in the area

A team of medical practitioners arrived in the Al-Shabaab-besieged town of El Barde in Bakol where a severe outbreak of watery diarrhea is causing havoc to the local population.

The team of three left from Mogadishu in a chartered plane. Speaking to VOA Somali Service, Dr. Asha Omar Kalbow, who led the team, said the situation they saw in El Barde was grave, saying that people are dying of the outbreak on daily basis.

Their trip was organized by politicians from the area and was spearheaded by former finance minister Hussein Abdi Halane.

The victims are mostly pastoralists affected by the biting drought in the region. The team also handed over drugs to the local health workers in the area.

Asha said the biggest challenge was getting access to the area and the only mean of transport possible as for now is air transport.