Kidnapping of aid workers and extortion at checkpoints are on the rise in Somalia, the United Nations said on Thursday, hindering efforts to prevent the country slipping into renewed famine.
In the first 27 days of April, 13 humanitarian workers were abducted, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update, the highest monthly figure since 2011.
“The affected personnel are all frontline responders,” it said, without giving further details.
Four aid workers carrying out vaccinations were kidnapped by al-Shabaab jihadist militants, who are fighting to topple the government, in early April, according to media reports.
The UN is racing to avoid a repeat of the 2011 famine in the drought-hit Horn of African nation when more than 250,000 people died of starvation.
Via enca.com, full story here.
