UN begins airlifting emergency food aid to Somalia

AFP - The World Food Programme on Wednesday airlifted 10 tonnes of emergency supplies to the Somali capital Mogadishu to feed thousands of malnourished children due to a severe drought.

The delivery from the Kenyan capital was the first in a series of airlifts aiming to supply 100 tonnes to feed 35,000 children every month, a spokesman said.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled to war-torn Mogadishu from elsewhere in the country in search of food.

Somalia is the country worst affected by a prolonged drought in east Africa that has put some 12 million people at risk of starvation across the region.

Nearly half of Somalia's estimated 10 million population are in need of relief assistance, owing to the effects of relentless violence and the drought that prompted the UN to declare famine for the first time this century.