The famine in Somalia has claimed the lives of 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to a U.S. official, in the first precise estimate of the disaster's death toll. Somalia is suffering from its worst drought in 60 years, and Al-Shabab, an al Qaeda-linked group, is preventing U.N. assistance from reaching much of the country. Al-Shabab soldiers, many of whom are children themselves, are stopping and sometimes killing refugees on their way to Mogadishu to collect food. The U.N. says 3.2 million Somalis are in need of immediate assistance.
