UN chief calls for urgent aid to avert new famine in Somalia

MOGADISHU — UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday that Somalia risks returning to famine without urgent aid, as he visited the war-torn country three years since more than 250,000 people died of hunger.

Ban, along with World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim, met Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud inside the fortified airport zone in Mogadishu, guarded by troops from the 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force.

But Ban, who was dressed in a suit and not the bullet-proof jacket he wore on his last visit during the famine in 2011, said Somalia had still made "remarkable progress" since he had last been there.

"Over three million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance and unfortunately that number is growing," Ban told reporters.

"I urge donors to step up contributions to avert another famine in Somalia."

The United Nations says it has just over a third of the cash it needs, having received $318 million of the $933 million it has appealed for.

"Slowly but surely, Somalia is waking from a long nightmare," Ban said, but adding he was "very concerned" about the humanitarian crisis and the shortfall in funding.

Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabab insurgents have in recent months lost swathes of territory and towns to the AU force and Somali government troops, and their leader was killed in a US air strike in September, but they still remain a potent threat.