Red Cross Mounts Somalia Aid Push in Militant-Held Regions
October 6, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
The International Red Cross has started a mammoth relief effort to get aid to a million people in famine-stricken areas of Somalia controlled by Islamist groups, the BBC says.
The operation, which the charity called its biggest in the world, follows negotiations with the militant group al-Shabab, which in the past has banned Western aid groups from territory it controls. The six United Nations-designated famine zones in Somalia are mostly in Islamist-held areas.
The Red Cross will transport truckloads of food continuously for three months from the Somali coast deep into al-Shabab territory and provide seeds to a quarter of a million farmers. The charity said its 20-year record of working in the country helped it gain access to militants for talks.
