Somalia:Nearly 30,000 infant deaths in Somalia famine

Laaska News  August 5,2011

The US government says the drought and famine in southern Somalia have killed nearly 30,000 infants in the past 90 days.

An official of the US Agency for International Development reported this at a US congressional committee on Wednesday.

According to her testimony, in southern Somalia alone, extreme food shortages stemming from the drought have caused the deaths of more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 in the past 90 days.

This is the first time that the number of children who died in famine-hit southern Somalia has been released.
The estimate is based on research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The US aid agency warns that more children may die.

The United Nations estimates that in southern Somalia, 640,000, or one out of every 3 children, suffers from acute malnutrition.

The UN has recently declared more regions as famine zones in southern Somalia, but the world body faces the difficulty of delivering food to areas controlled by Muslim extremists.

NHK.