Somalia denies US allegation that it destroyed food aid warehouse

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia's government on Thursday denied an allegation by the U.S. government that authorities in Mogadishu destroyed an American-funded warehouse belonging to the World Food Program and seized food aid earmarked for impoverished civilians.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it has suspended all assistance from Washington to Somalia's federal government over the allegations, saying the Trump administration has "a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft and diversion of life-saving assistance."

A senior U.S. State Department official said authorities at the Mogadishu Port demolished the warehouse of the World Food Program, a Rome-based U.N. agency, at the direction of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud "with no prior notification or coordination with international donor countries, including the United States." The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private reporting from American diplomats in the region.

Somalia's foreign ministry said that the food in question wasn't destroyed and 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 foreign ministry said that expansion and repurposing works at the Mogadishu Port are underway as part of broader developments, but ongoing activities there have not affected the custody and distribution of humanitarian assistance.

Somalia "remains fully committed to humanitarian principles, transparency, and accountability, and values its partnership with the United States and all international donors," it said. It gave no other details.

WFP didn't immediately respond to a request for more details.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia is one of the world's poorest nations and has been beset by chronic strife and insecurity exacerbated by multiple natural disasters, including severe droughts, for decades.

The U.S. provided $770 million in assistance for projects in Somalia during the last year of Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, but only a fraction of that went directly to the government.

The U.S. suspension comes as the Trump administration has ratcheted up criticism of Somali refugees and migrants in the United States, including over fraud allegations involving child care centers in Minnesota. It has slapped significant restrictions on Somalis wanting to come to the U.S. and made it difficult for those already in the United States to stay.

It wasn't immediately clear how much assistance would be affected by the suspension because the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid expenditures, dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and not released new country-by-country data.

South Sudan, another African country facing conflict and food shortage, is also heavily affected by U.S. aid restrictions. On Thursday, the U.S. suspended foreign assistance to a county in South Sudan's Jonglei state, and similar assistance to Western Bahr el-Ghazal state was under review, the U.S. Embassy in South Sudan said in a statement.

That statement charged that South Sudanese officials "take advantage of the United States instead of working in partnership with us to help the South Sudanese people."

The U.S. measures "follow continued abuse, exploitation, and theft directed against U.S. foreign assistance by South Sudanese officials at national, state, and county levels," it said.

There was no immediate comment from South Sudan's government.