Islamic militia denies lifting ban on Western aid agencies
A week after the United Nations declared famine in two regions of Somalia, the country’s al-Shabaab Islamists have denied lifting a ban it imposed on specific aid agencies in 2009, according to Uganda’s Daily Monitor. Reports indicated the militia had allowed foreign aid agencies limited access to some areas under its control, but the insurgents now say no such ban was lifted. More than 166,000 starving Somalis have fled to Kenya and Ethiopia for help. According to the UN, 10 million people across east Africa need urgent food aid. However, delivering aid to Somalia is difficult: the country has no central government to organize food aid, and al-Shabaab has reportedly prevented people from fleeing camps to receive aid.