WFP-chartered aid ship arrives in Merca town under escort

A ship ferrying UN food aid arrived in Somalia's Mogadishu port on Friday night escorted by a Canadian frigate to deter an attack by pirates. The ship that carried thousands of tonnes of food to the war-torn country, where at least 3.2 million people are facing shortages, was said to be guarded by Canadian warship. According to sources in the region the World Food Programme-chartered ship will spend days offloading its cargo while the frigate stands at the sea to escort the ship that docked at handmade port in Merca town of lower Shabelle region. With rampant piracy and rising insecurity in Somalia, sea transport is the last lifeline for the hunger-stricken Somalis but they became rare to arrive after the pirates have increased their waves of attacked aimed to kidnap the ships. Somalia's long coastline is infested with pirates, making the Gulf of Aden and neighbouring parts of the Indian Ocean among the most dangerous waterways in the world.