About 2,000 people displaced by drought in southern mountains [Archives:2008/1187/Local News]
September 4 2008
(IRIN) – Hundreds of families (totalling about 2,000 people) in the southern governorate of Abyan have begun to leave their homes due to severe drought in their mountain villages, a senior official has said.
Sirar District, a mountainous area in Abyan, has been particularly badly affected since May.
Al-Khader Mohammed Saleh, director-general of Sirar District, told IRIN that over 300 families had left their villages over the past week as a result of the drought.
“People could not stand the water shortages and so they decided to leave their homes. More and more people are leaving their villages for the same reason. The number of displaced is doubling
