War-torn Somalia appeals for urgent aid amid drought

Mogadishu (AFP) - Somalia's government begged for help Tuesday, warning the war-torn nation once again faced a hunger and drought catastrophe three years after famine killed more than a quarter of a million people.

News Keydmedia Online
5 August 2014

"Drought has already reached several regions in Somalia," the government said in a statement, warning that "it anticipates that the situation will continue to deteriorate".

"The aid in form of food, water and medication must urgently reach the affected population," the statement added.

Last month the UN warned Somalia is sliding back into an acute hunger crisis, with parts of the capital Mogadishu facing near famine-level shortages and aid organisations unable to meet the needs of some 350,000 displaced people there.

"All members of parliament are calling on the international community and the United Nations to assist... to prevent the return of the deadly humanitarian crisis of the 2011 famine," the government said.

Somalia