Iran sends major aid convoy to Somalia

The 5000-ton consignment, comprising rice and other foodstuff, was dispatched to Somalia by sea on Friday from the Bandar Abbas port city, located 1,563 kilometers (971 miles) south of the capital Tehran, IRIB reported.

According to Head of IRCS Public Relations Pouya Hajian, the twelfth humanitarian aid shipment for drought-stricken Somalia left Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport for Mogadishu's Aden-Adde International Airport on Thursday night.

The 35-ton aid cargo included canned food, tents, legumes, rice and flour.

Iran's eleventh aid convoy for Somalia left Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport for Mogadishu on Thursday morning.

The 40-ton consignment of the Islamic Republic's humanitarian aid comprised legumes, flour, rice, tents, moquette and milk powder.

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

Reports say that aid agencies can take food supplies to only a limited number of people affected by the disaster since insecurity hinders efforts in much of the country's south.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the country's former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre