AhlulBayt News Agency

source : IRIB
Sunday

21 August 2011

7:30:00 PM
261256

Iran's 4th aid cargo arrives in Somalia

The fourth batch of Iran's humanitarian aid has been delivered to Somali Red Crescent Society officials to help the impoverished people in the famine-hit African country.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The convoy included 25 tons of humanitarian aid including rice and grains which arrived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Monday.

Iran has so far dispatched more than 120 tons of aid including various foodstuff and medicine for the crisis-hit people in the Horn of Africa country.

An official with Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Heidar Heidari said the IRCS will cooperate with Somali Red Crescent Society to distribute food among the Somalia people.

He added that the aid cargos are distributed among the famine-stricken people of Somalia in two days.

The United Nations has warned that more than 13 out of every 10,000 children aged less than five die in the Somalia famine zone every day.

The drought and famine have affected more than 11.8 million people across Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Somalia has been the hardest-hit country in what is being described as the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years.

The UN has declared famine in five regions in Somalia and said that the international humanitarian response to the crisis has been insufficient.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the African country.

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