UN suspends food aid to southern Somalia

Nairobi, Kenya
While WFP will continue to deliver aid in parts of Somalia that are not under the control of Al Shabab, reaching up to 1.8 million people, the pull out of food relief is almost certain to have profound effects on the Somali population.Nearly 2.2 million Somalis receive food aid every month, and nearly 71 percent of the Somali population suffer from under-nourishment, according to UN reports.After years of drought and war, local farmers are simply unable to meet the need without outside assistance. Fighting for control of the country has already displaced 1.55 million Somalis from their homes but within Somalia, and hunger is likely to send Somalis on the move again, perhaps joining the millions of others have been forced from their country altogether, into Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and beyond.
What is Al Shabab?
Al Shabab is an offshoot of Islamists who ruled Somalia for six months, from July to Dec. 2006, before being ousted by US-backed Ethiopian troops. Radicals from the Islamic Courts Union government reformed their forces and began a war of attrition with Ethiopia. By the time the Ethiopians retreated, with the formation of a broadly based transitional Somali government, Al Shabab had taken over vast swaths of the south, and much of the nation’s capital, Mogadishu remains under Shabab control...more..http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0106/UN-suspends-food-aid-to-southern-Somalia