NAIROBI: The World Food Program airlifted Wednesday 10 tons of emergency supplies to the Somali capital Mogadishu to feed thousands of malnourished children because of a severe drought.

The delivery from the Kenyan capital was the first in a series of airlifts aiming to supply 100 tons to feed 35,000 children every month, according to a spokesman.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled to war-torn Mogadishu from elsewhere in the country in search of food.

Somalia is the country worst affected by a prolonged drought in east Africa that has put some 12 million people at risk of starvation across the region.

Nearly half of Somalia’s estimated 10 million population is in need of relief assistance, owing to the effects of relentless violence and the drought that prompted the U.N. to declare famine for the first time this century.

Relief agencies are struggling to deliver aid to Somalia, which is mostly under the control of Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabaab insurgents who have banned several foreign aid groups from regions under their control.

The WFP’s delivery, which had been delayed by bureaucratic hurdles in Kenya, is destined for the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The airlift is to kick off a series of food deliveries that will also go to the Ethiopian town of Dolo on the border with Somalia and to the town of Wajir in northern Kenya, Orr said.

However, by Wednesday afternoon, the first supplies had yet to be flown to Mogadishu and it was unclear what has caused the delay.

The WFP was forced to pull out from southern Somalia in early 2010 after they were banned by Al-Shabaab, which controls large areas of the region.

However, a handful of relief groups were spared the insurgents’ ban, but have been struggling to cope with the rising numbers of people in need of humanitarian aid.

Over the weekend, the International Red Cross said that it had handed out 400 tons of food in drought-hit areas controlled by Al-Shabaab rebels, the first ICRC-led drops into such areas since 2009.

The bulk of Somalia’s drought-affected people are in the country's southern regions.

In Nairobi, a team of humanitarian organizations was meeting with donors to streamline operations to assist victims of drought that has also hit parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda.

“There will be no political declarations. It will be technical,” a diplomatic source told AFP speaking on condition of anonymity.

The meeting will look into U.N. agencies’ operations in Somalia in the face of restrictions by Al-Shabaab.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said southern and central Somalia regions, the displaced and refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia were “of greatest concern for the coming six months,” according to a statement.

At an emergency meeting on the Horn Africa drought in Rome Monday, officials said the United Nations had received about $1billion since first launching an appeal for the region in November 2010, but needs a billion more by the end of the year to cope with the emergency.

The World Bank pledged more than $500 million Monday, with the bulk of the money set to go toward long-term projects to aid livestock farmers while $12 million would be for immediate aid to those worst hit by the crisis.

However charities have slammed low aid pledges and say not enough is being done.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday called the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to urge them to make hefty donations in order to help fight famine spreading in east Africa.

Ban called Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani to urge them to donate funds for the Horn of Africa, a United Nations statement said.

He also called the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, to ask him to respond to the U.N. appeal for emergency funds, it added.