UN: Millions of Somalis at Risk of Famine

Six million Somalis are facing extreme levels of food insecurity YASUYOSHI CHIBA AFP/File
Six million Somalis are facing extreme levels of food insecurity YASUYOSHI CHIBA AFP/File
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UN: Millions of Somalis at Risk of Famine

Six million Somalis are facing extreme levels of food insecurity YASUYOSHI CHIBA AFP/File
Six million Somalis are facing extreme levels of food insecurity YASUYOSHI CHIBA AFP/File

Millions of people in Somalia are at risk of famine, with young children the most vulnerable to the worsening drought in the troubled Horn of Africa nation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.

"Somalia is facing famine conditions as a perfect storm of poor rain, skyrocketing food prices and huge funding shortfalls leaves almost 40 percent of Somalis on the brink," the agencies said in a statement.

Many parts of Somalia are being ravaged by drought that has also taken hold in other countries in the region including Ethiopia and Kenya, but the UN agencies warned of a major funding shortfall to address the crisis and avoid a repeat of the 2011 famine, AFP reported.

"We are literally about to start taking food from the hungry to feed the starving," the UN World Food Program's Somalia representative El-Khidir Daloum said in a statement, describing the country as "on the cusp of a humanitarian catastrophe".

Six million Somalis or 40 percent of the population are now facing extreme levels of food insecurity, according to a new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, almost a two-fold increase since the beginning of the year, the agencies said.

The joint statement by the WFP, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the humanitarian agency OCHA and the United Nations Children's Fund said "pockets of famine conditions" were likely in six areas of Somalia.

They said children under the age of five were the most vulnerable, with access to food and milk scarce because of rising commodity prices and livestock issues.

About 1.4 million children face acute malnutrition through the end of the year, with around one quarter facing severe acute malnutriton, the statement said.

Together, humanitarian agencies had been able to supply aid to almost two million people but the UN warned of a "critical gap" in donor funding, with a 2022 plan seeking $1.5 billion reaching only 4.4 percent of the target.

In the 2011 famine, 260,000 people -- half of them children under the age of six -- died of hunger or hunger-related disorders.

Natural disasters -- not conflict -- have in recent years been the main drivers of displacement in Somalia, a war-torn nation that ranks among the world's most vulnerable to climate change.



27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
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27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)

Iran said Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.

The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people. while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes, The Associated Press said.

Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don't hand themselves over.

Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.

It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. The Israeli Defense Ministry had said that 50 aircraft dropped 100 munitions on military targets “based on high-quality and accurate intelligence from the Intelligence Branch.”

The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, seen as a symbol of repression of any opposition, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.