The United Nations has carried out its first emergency airlift of aid to Somalia since a famine was declared there last week. The aid consists of a nutritional paste expected to treat 3,500 malnourished children for one month. World Food Programme spokesperson David Orr said the shipments will continue over the coming days.

David Orr: “We’ve got 14 tons on that aircraft, and we’ll be bringing in a total of a hundred tons within the next few days, and I believe 80 tons of that will be going to Mogadishu, where it will be distributed to supplementary feeding centers to malnourished children there.’’

Some 2.2 million Somalis residing in areas controlled by the militant group al-Shabab remain cut off from international aid.