A United Nations report says fifty percent of Somalia's population is dependent upon humanitarian aid.

The UN says the east African country is facing the worst crisis since the beginning of its civil war 18 years ago. Without foreign aid, it's feared that almost four million inhabitants could die of starvation.

Somalia is suffering both from extreme drought and from increasing fighting between extremist Muslim movements and government troops. The fighting is preventing foreign aid from being delivered to many of the locations where it is needed.

Other countries in the region, such as Kenya and Ethiopia, have also been hard hit by the drought. Millions of people have too little to eat.

Flag of Somalia from Wikimedia Commons