Al-Shabaab insurgents say relief group is distributing spoiled food and has shut down aid distribution in the famine-hit south
Somali insurgents have shut down food aid distribution by a major aid group because they say the organisation is distributing spoiled food in the famine-hit south.
The militant group al-Shabaab said on Monday it was closing the Red Cross's operation permanently.
"Despite being offered unrivalled access to all the regions governed by the mujahideen in south and central Somalia, the International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly betrayed the trust conferred on it by the local population," said the statement from the militia, which has links to al-Qaida.
The militia said it had conducted a "thorough inspection" of the aid group's warehouses and food depots and found up to 70% of the food was "unfit for human consumption, posing a considerable health hazard and exposing the vulnerable recipients to acute illnesses".
A Red Cross spokeswoman said on Tuesday the organisation did not have an immediate comment.
The Red Cross previously said some trucks were stuck on bad roads for several weeks in the rainy season and the food they were carrying was spoiled.
That food - about 2,000 tonnes according to al-Shabaab - was publicly burned after the militia had taken photographs of mouldy beans.
The Red Cross began distributing monthly rations to 1.1 million people in October and was midway through a second distribution when a convoy of trucks was stopped by al-Shabaab in mid-December in Jowhar.
Negotiations for their release took several weeks but were ultimately unsuccessful.
The Red Cross formally suspended operations in al-Shabaab areas of southern Somalia on 12 January. It is the only agency bringing in food to the famine-hit areas on such a large scale.
The UN said more than 13 million people were in need of aid and 750,000 at risk of starvation at the height of the Somali famine.
The number of those at risk of starvation has subsequently dropped to 250,000 after an influx of aid and the arrival of seasonal rains, meaning crops could be planted.