WFP says NATO escorts keeping aid safe

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- With warships from NATO operating off the coast of Somalia, the U.N. World Food Program says crucial aid is successfully reaching the war-ravaged country.

NATO deployed seven ships in October to defend cargo ships carrying humanitarian aid to Somalia for the World Food Program. Violent pirates off the coast of Somalia have posed a serious threat to the aid shipments and international cargo ships taking passage through the Gulf of Aden.

The NATO unit was requested by the United Nations after more than 80 attacks and 32 hijackings by pirates on cargo ships off the coast of Somalia. Despite the increase in violence in the Gulf of Aden, previous international aid escorts and the newly deployed NATO contingent have prevented pirate attacks on any World Food Program ships.

The World Food Program estimates that without the added NATO protection, "more than 2 million Somalis could go hungry," the release said.