LOC09:03
06:03 GMT
WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- The United States is "extremely concerned" by Somali's al-Qaeda linked extremist group Al-Shabaab's move to ban several UN agencies and international NGOs in parts of the country.
In a statement released late Tuesday, State department spokesman Mark Toner indicated the US joins in solidarity with the United Nations officials and others in condemning these actions in the strongest possible terms.
He said "Al-Shabaab's actions put at even greater risk the lives of the four million people in Somalia who remain in need of emergency assistance and the 250,000 of those who are suffering from ongoing famine." The US joins the international community in calling for aid organizations and other international nongovernmental organizations to resume full and unhindered access to Somalis in need of emergency assistance there, Toner said.
Al-Sabaab made the move to ban some aid organizations on Monday and began seizing and looting some of their offices in southern and central areas of the country.
The move comes as aid groups battle to stem a famine that has left a quarter of a million Somalis in danger of starvation.(end) hy.asa KUNA 300903 Nov 11NNNN