Somalia woke up to another grim chapter of its ongoing struggle against al-Shabab, as gunfire echoed through the streets of Beledweyne for nearly 24 hours. The target? The Cairo Hotel, a seemingly ordinary establishment that became the latest battleground in the government’s relentless war against terrorism. It was a well-orchestrated attack: a suicide car bomb to rip through security barriers, followed by heavily armed gunmen storming the building. What followed was an agonizingly long siege that kept the city on edge.
By the time Somali security forces reclaimed the hotel, six militants lay dead, along with several civilians caught in the crossfire. Estimates on casualties vary, but the impact of the attack is undeniable. Traditional elders and military officials who had been planning counterinsurgency efforts against al-Shabab were among the intended targets. The militant group, which has long sought to destabilize Somalia’s fragile government, claimed responsibility, adding yet another violent episode to its long history of assaults on high-profile targets.
The attack serves as a stark reminder of al-Shabab’s ability to strike at will, despite an ongoing military crackdown. The group still controls vast swathes of rural Somalia, where government presence is nominal at best. The African Union peacekeeping mission, bolstered by Somali forces, has managed to push them back in certain areas, but as this week’s events show, the road to security remains treacherous.
And if the bullets weren’t enough, hunger is creeping in to claim its own victims.
While Somalia’s security forces were busy dodging bullets, the country received another grim warning: famine could soon tighten its grip on millions. The World Food Programme (WFP) has sounded the alarm that nearly one million more Somalis could slip into crisis levels of hunger in the coming months. The reason? A failed harvest, compounded by persistent drought, and of course, the chaos that keeps supply chains fragile and unreliable.
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Currently, an estimated 3.4 million people are already experiencing acute food insecurity. If immediate action isn’t taken, that number could swell to 4.4 million—a haunting statistic in a country that has already seen famine devastate its population in the past. Among the most vulnerable are children. A staggering 1.7 million under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition by the end of the year.
The hunger crisis is not a sudden development. Warnings have been in place for months, but funding shortfalls have forced organizations like the WFP to scale back aid. Where 2.2 million people were receiving assistance in 2022, that number has now dropped to just 820,000. International donors, preoccupied with other global crises, have not responded with the urgency required, leaving Somalia in an all-too-familiar position: on the brink of disaster, with no clear way out.
Hunger and war have long been Somalia’s inseparable foes, feeding off each other in an endless cycle. Where there is conflict, food security collapses. Where there is hunger, instability thrives. And in the middle are the civilians—caught between armed militants and the slow, creeping devastation of starvation.
The government’s struggle to contain al-Shabab is already consuming significant resources, and diverting attention to the hunger crisis may seem like an impossible balancing act. Yet, as history has shown, ignoring one to focus on the other only worsens both. For the people of Somalia, the news of the Cairo Hotel siege will fade in the coming days, replaced by the next inevitable attack. But hunger is different—it lingers, gnaws at the bones, and doesn’t make headlines as often as explosions do. The country’s leaders, along with international partners, now face a daunting question: Can they fight terrorism and starvation at the same time, or will Somalia remain trapped between the gunfire and the empty plate?
