Somalis offer funeral prayers for a malnourished child who died at a refugee camp in capital Mogadishu. Once an important centre for commerce, Somalia’s misfortunes began in 1991 when the regime of Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed with the outbreak of the civil war. Photo: AP
Somalis receive food at a feeding centre in Mogadishu. Though the civil war was initially between different clans and sub-clans in the country, soon it acquired an extremist tone with al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab entering the scene against the internationally-recognised transitional government. Photo: AP
A soldier from the Somalian transitional government forces reacts as he talks to a friend, during a patrol of the border town of Dhobley. According to U.N. publication “Blue Helmets”, there was heavy fighting in Mogadishu between armed elements allied to General Mohamed Farah Aidid, or to “interim President” Ali Mahdi, and yet other factions. “The country as a whole was without any form of central government. Banditry was rife.” Photo: AP
Children lay on beds at the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu. Adding to the internal conflicts was the weather conditions in the country. In July 20, 2011, the United Nations declared Somalia’s food crisis as famine after the country was hit by one of the worst drought in 60 years. Photo: AP
Somalian transitional government forces pray near the town of Dhobley. Islamist militants initially drove out aid organisations from the country. But when it was clear that nearly 3 million Somalis were starving and in urgent need of help, they allowed the groups back into the country. Photo: AP
Abdihakin Omar, 3, a malnourished child from southern Somalia sits in Banadir hospital in Mogadishu. On July 27, 2011, the U.N. airlifted tonnes of emergency supplies to Mogadishu to feed the malnourished and hungry children. Photo: AP
Somalis make their way to a new camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu. Tens of thousands of Somalis have already trekked to neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia, hoping to get aid in refugee camps. Photo: AP
Women line up to enrol for the World Food Programme emergency distributions in Dolo. The U.N. decision to airlift emergency ration was a crisis intervention to keep hungry refugees from dying along what an official called the “roads of death”. Photo: AP
Somalis displaced by famine wait to receive rations at a camp for the displaced in Mogadishu. World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran said on July 23 that they can't reach the estimated 2.2 million Somalis in desperate need of aid who are in militant-controlled areas. Photo: AP
Displaced women gather as a Somalian transitional government forces soldier, right, provides security in the border town of Dhobley. Photo: AP
A woman and a man from southern Somalia build a makeshift shelter from tree branches at a new camp in Mogadishu. Photo: AP