Iran to send 4th aid convoy to Somalia

Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) plans to dispatch the fourth batch of its humanitarian aid to the famine-stricken Somalia in the coming days.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that the organization is ready to send its fourth shipment of its humanitarian aid by sea, Mehr news agency reported.

According to IRCS, the third humanitarian aid shipment was sent to the country by air on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is also scheduled to visit Somalia in the near future.

Earlier in the week, Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on Iranians to rush to help the famine-stricken Muslim people of Somalia.

“These days, the Horn of Africa and particularly the catastrophe-ridden country of Somalia are witnessing one of the most painful human crises in which the lives of millions of Somali women and children are in danger due to drought, famine and the silence of international organizations,” read a statement by the Leader.

The United Nations has warned that more than thirteen children out of every 10,000 aged less than five die in the Somalia famine zone every day.

“This means that 10 per cent of children under five are dying every 11 weeks. These figures are truly heart wrenching,” The UN representative to Somalia Augustine Mahiga told the UN Security Council on Aug. 10.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.