MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government on Thursday denied a U.S. allegation that authorities in Mogadishu destroyed an American-funded World Food Program warehouse and seized food aid, as Washington suspended assistance to the federal government over concerns about possible diversion of relief supplies.
The State Department said Wednesday it had halted all U.S. assistance to Somalia’s federal government, citing “a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft and diversion of life-saving assistance.” The move immediately escalates tensions with a key Horn of Africa partner as millions of Somalis depend on humanitarian aid after years of conflict, displacement and drought.
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In a statement, Somalia’s foreign ministry rejected the allegation and said the food “wasn’t destroyed,” asserting that “the commodities referenced in recent reports remain under the custody and control of the World Food Program, including assistance provided by the United States.” The ministry acknowledged expansion and repurposing works at Mogadishu Port but said those activities “have not affected the custody and distribution of humanitarian assistance.”
A senior U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private reporting from American diplomats in the region, said authorities at Mogadishu Port demolished the WFP warehouse at the direction of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud “with no prior notification or coordination with international donor countries, including the United States.” The alleged destruction of the Rome-based U.N. agency’s facility and seizure of food stocks prompted the aid suspension, the official said.
WFP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear how much U.S. assistance to Somalia will be affected. The Trump administration has slashed foreign aid expenditures, dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and not released new country-by-country data, obscuring the scale of current support. In the last year of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States provided $770 million in assistance for projects in Somalia, though only a fraction flowed directly to the federal government. The suspension announced this week applies to assistance to Somalia’s government, not necessarily to U.N. agencies or nongovernmental organizations.
The freeze comes amid a broader hardening of U.S. policy toward Somali refugees and migrants. The administration has stepped up criticism tied to alleged fraud in Minnesota child-care centers and imposed significant restrictions on Somalis seeking to enter or remain in the United States.
Somalia emphasized its desire to maintain ties with Washington and donors. The foreign ministry said the country “remains fully committed to humanitarian principles, transparency, and accountability, and values its partnership with the United States and all international donors.” It offered no further details on the events at the port or the status of any warehouse structures.
Somalia, one of the world’s poorest nations, has endured chronic insecurity and successive natural disasters for decades, leaving large swaths of the population in need of food assistance. Any interruption to relief pipelines at the Mogadishu Port — a critical node for imports and aid distribution — risks compounding hardship, particularly in regions still recovering from severe drought.
U.S. officials did not set conditions for restoring assistance to the government, and Somalia did not indicate whether it would pursue an independent investigation. The standoff now turns on documentation from WFP and port authorities — and on whether the two governments can swiftly verify the custody and condition of the contested food stocks.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
