Extended Drought, High Food Prices and War Threaten 14 Million in Horn of Africa, Especially Somalia. By Steve Bloomfield, London Independent, July 23, 2008. "The entire Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Djibouti and parts of Kenya, is gripped by a food crisis. A deepening drought and rocketing food prices have put about 14 million people at risk -- three million more than in 2006 when the last major drought hit the region. But the situation is most severe in Somalia. A continuing conflict, pitting Ethiopian and Somali government forces on one side and a variety of Islamist militias on the other, is having a devastating effect on relief operations. Twenty aid workers have been killed this year, most of them in the past two months, in what humanitarians fear is an 'orchestrated campaign' of terror. Some aid groups have suspended operations and many are considering pulling out altogether. 'What we are seeing is alarming,' said Mike Fark... in Somalia for Medecins sans Frontieres... The U.N. had estimated that up to 3.5 million people, out of a population of about 8 million, would need emergency assistance by the end of the year. But that figure is expected to rise. The rains failed in many parts of southern and central Somalia -- in some areas it was the fourth consecutive season they had not come."
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