MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Humanitarian assistance to parts of Somalia are suspended until aid groups still working there are ensured food delivery isn't impeded, the ICRC said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the few humanitarian groups still working in Somalia, said it had to halt distributions of food aid because deliveries to central and southern Somalia were blocked.
"The suspension will continue until we receive assurances from the authorities controlling those areas that distributions can take place unimpeded and reach all those in need, as previously agreed," said Patrick Vial, the head of the ICRC delegation for Somalia.
Somalia is struggling with a drought that gripped much of the Horn of Africa last year.
Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab regrouped to the south after pulling out of Mogadishu earlier this year. It imposed limits on humanitarian groups operating in the country, leaving the ICRC as one of the few organizations still working there.
The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, called for more support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
U.N. Undersecretary-General B. Lynn Pascoe said the support was needed given the sustained threat posed by al-Shabaab.
"A concerted military offensive of the African Union Mission in Somalia and regional powers may present a chance of defeating them," he said in a statement.
