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    July 28, 2011

6 Killed in Battle to Keep Somali Aid Flowing

   VOA News
   A newly arrived refugee family walks into Baley settlement near the Ifo
   extension refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border, July
   27, 2011
   Photo: Reuters
   A newly arrived refugee family walks into Baley settlement near the Ifo
   extension refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border, July
   27, 2011

   At least six people are reported to have been killed in the Somali
   capital Mogadishu, as African Union and government forces battle to
   protect the flow of food aid against militant attacks.
   Witnesses said the deaths occurred during heavy fighting Thursday - one
   day after the World Food Program airlifted 14 tons of food into
   Mogadishu.
   Government and AU troops appear to be trying to seize ground held by
   the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab, which has banned
   assistance from the U.N. food agency.
   A spokesman for AU peacekeepers, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, says
   the operation aims to ensure that aid agencies can continue to operate
   and get vital supplies to starving Somalis.

    At the Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya, families fleeing the
    famine in Somalia are given aid, but also face new challenges. VOA's
          Michael Onyiego visited the camp and took these pictures.

   The United Nations reports at least 100,000 Somalis have migrated to
   Mogadishu recently in search of life-saving food and water.
   The U.N. estimates 11 million people in the Horn of Africa need
   emergency aid, as the region suffers its worst drought in six decades.
   The world body has declared a famine in two sections of southern
   Somalia, both of which are al-Shabab strongholds.
   The [1]World Food Program is expected to airlift more aid this week to
   eastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, near the Somali border.
   Thousands of Somalis are streaming across the border to overcrowded
   camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

References

   1. http://www.wfp.org/

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