UN: Almost 1 million drought-hit Somalis in al-Shabab areas

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The United Nations says close to 1 million drought-affected people in Somalia are in areas under the control or influence of the al-Shabab extremist group. The U.N. appealed to the fighters to allow humanitarian access as famine threatens the country. The U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Somalia said on Wednesday that the 900,000 people living in areas dominated by al-Shabab represent a “relatively small” share of the more than 7 million in need. Thousands of people have died as the Horn of Africa country faces its worst drought in several decades. Al-Shabab’s hostility to aid efforts during a famine in Somalia a decade ago was a factor in the deaths of a quarter-million people.