29,000 Children Die in Somalia Famine, U.S. Estimates

According to United States aid official Nancy Lindborg, the U.S. has estimated that upwards of 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days since the devastating famine hit Somalia.

The U.S. estimate is the first precise death toll from the crisis that has ravaged the Horn of Africa and been particularly acute in war-torn-Al-Shabab ridden Somalia.

The entire Horn of Africa is suffering, however, Somalia with nearly 3 million people at risk of starvation, has been the hardest hit by the worst drought the region has experienced in 60 years.

Yesterday, the U.N. expanded the number of famine zones present in Somalia, bringing the number from 2 up to 5.

The concern in Somalia is so vast that U.S. officials moved forward this week to ensure aid organizations that they would not face prosecution by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) if humanitarian aid lands in the hands of terrorist groups such as Al-Shabab.

Aid groups have largely left the region due to the dual threat of prosecution from the U.S. and extremism from Al-Shabab...."To read more, click here.