Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management

Rain adds misery to Somalia famine! July 31, 2011

Tens of thousands of famine-stricken Somali refugees were cold and drenched after torrential rains pounded their makeshift structures overnight into early Sunday in the capital, leading to appeals for aid.

Aid agencies have limited reach in Somalia where Islamist militants are waging an insurgency against the country’s weak U.N.-backed government.

The most dangerous group among the militants —- the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab —- has barred major relief organizations from operating in the territories it controls.  The U.N. said tens of thousands already have died in Somalia in areas held by the Islamist rebels because food aid could not reach them.

The African Union peacekeeping force fears that al-Shabab may try to attack the camps that now house tens of thousands of famine refugees in Mogadishu, disrupting even further the distribution of food aid. The AU force launched a new offensive Thursday to push the militants’ front line farther back from the camps.