Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has asked for immediate international support for the nearly 2.5 million Somalis who are starving due to a severe drought

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has asked for immediate international support for the nearly 2.5 million Somalis who are starving due to a severe drought.


"Unless we will have immediate support, international support, definitely there will be a catastrophic situation in Somalia," the premier told the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Mohamed, a Somali-American who took office just 50 days ago in the Horn of Africa state, said the situation continues to deteriorate as the country is currently in the grip of a potentially devastating drought and agriculture is in the early stages of collapse.

A drought in 1992 killed an estimated half a million people and the Somali prime minister said urgent international action was needed to avoid a repeat.

Mohamed said that his government has started delivering aid to the people displaced by the "potentially devastating drought" in areas under government control and has also "identified ways of reaching out and delivering aid to areas under rebel control."

Regarding the ongoing fighting with the al-Shabab fighters, he said that Somali forces and African Union (AU) troops "are winning the security battle."

The premier also praised the AU's decision to boost its military presence in Somalia.