Millions still at risk in rebel-held zones
Millions of Somalis remain at risk of starvation, even as the UN’s food agency says it has been able to penetrate deeper into the famine-wracked country. About 3.6 million people in Somalia could starve this year. The worst hit are those in areas of the country controlled by al-Shabaab rebels, who oppose Western intervention and have at times banned food aid, even as the Horn of Africa suffers through its worst drought in decades. Officials with the World Food Program say the agency now has access to some pockets of the country previously considered off limits. The organization is now providing aid to 1.5 million Somalis in the famine zone. Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, fears of a security vacuum are spreading. The rebels recently pulled out of Somalia’s largest city but peacekeepers and government troops have yet to assert full control.