By Zakaria Soohoyde - Reporter
MOGADISHU, 4 October 2026 The Shabelle River has breached its banks at 366 major high-risk points, increasing the risk of flooding for communities along its course, Somalia Disaster Management Agency Director General Mahmoud Moallim Abdulle warned.
Abdulle told the Miizaan Podcast the condition of the river and challenges in surrounding areas are making flood prevention and mitigation more difficult.
“The Shabelle River breaches at 366 locations, and these are major points. We are not talking about small locations,” he said.
Flooding is a recurring hazard for communities in low-lying areas along Somalia’s rivers, causing displacement, damage to farmland and homes, and disruption of critical infrastructure.
Abdulle said prolonged neglect has increased the risk, with the river heavily silted and no sediment removal or dredging carried out for years.
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“The river has become filled with sediment. During the 40 years of state collapse in Somalia, no sediment was removed, the river was not dredged, and nothing was done. That is increasing the risks,” he said.
He said security is among the biggest obstacles to reducing flood risk, with large parts of areas surrounding the Shabelle River close to or in areas controlled or influenced by Al-Shabaab, making river maintenance difficult for government agencies and other actors.
“The river is largely surrounded by Al-Shabaab, who do not allow work to be carried out. In some places, they themselves have filled in and destroyed parts of the river. Between Jalalaqsi and Mahadaay, they filled part of the river with earth and turned it into a road. These are some of the things increasing the risk,” Abdulle said.
The remarks highlight long-standing challenges in water management and river maintenance in Somalia, where many communities depend on land near rivers for farming and livelihoods.