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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/somalia-drought-threatens-millions.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="A woman with one of her children awaiting treatment at the Hawa Abdi hospital in Afgoye, Somalia" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-somalia-drought-threatens-millions.jpg" alt="A woman with one of her children awaiting treatment at the Hawa Abdi hospital in Afgoye, Somalia"/></a></p>
<p>The United Nations and aid groups warned of a possible looming catastrophe as a severe drought plunged millions of Somalis into crisis after rains failed for several consecutive seasons in the Horn of Africa nation.</p>
<p>The drought has increased the number of malnourished children in some regions, displaced thousands of people and killed thousands of animals. Officials in a central Somali region said 18 people died of drought-related effects.</p>
<p>&#8220;The situation is dire. It is an added vulnerability to an already extremely vulnerable people,&#8221; the UN&#8217;s humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, said after touring camps for displaced people in Somalia&#8217;s semi-autonomous region of Puntland.</p>
<p>The drought is the latest in a long line of problems for Somalia, which has been mired in conflict since 1991, when warlords toppled the country&#8217;s last central government, then turned on each other.</p>
<p>According to the UN, the malnutrition rate among children has jumped to 30% in Somalia&#8217;s southern Juba region, a figure that is double the emergency threshold. Food prices have soared 80% in some regions.</p>
<p>Many drought-affected families are fleeing their homes in search of food. In the Galmudug region of central Somalia, officials said they had not seen such drought conditions since 1974.</p>
<p>Omar Mohamoud, a local government official, said the drought had killed 18 people and displaced thousands. He said his community has seen about 70% of its sheep and goats, 50% of its cattle and 30% of its camels die in the last three years.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are appealing to the international community to respond to the crisis and provide the people with water, food, medicine and shelter,&#8221; said Mr Mohamoud. &#8220;If the international community does not respond to the crisis urgently, a catastrophe of huge proportions is staring us right in the eyes.&#8221;</p>
<p>Oxfam said Somalia&#8217;s current drought could be as serious as one in the early 1990s, when thousands of people died.</p>
<p>The UN has released £2.8 million from its emergency fund to respond to the drought and is likely to release more in the coming weeks, said Mark Bowden, the world body&#8217;s Somalia humanitarian co-ordinator. This figure is separate from the £329 million sought by the UN for this year to finance its aid projects in Somalia.</p>
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