Some 90 per cent of food aid arrives in Somalia by sea, according to the WFP [EPA]

Disruptions to food shipments and attacks on aid workers in Somalia are threatening the lives of millions of starving people, the United Nations' food agency warned on Friday.

The war-torn Horn of Africa country risked all-out famine if the threats continue, said Peter Goossens, the WFP country director for Somalia.

French, Danish and Dutch naval escorts had proved invaluable support over the last eight months, but the UN agency has received no commitments for further escorts beyond June, he said.

'Dire crossroads'

Some 90 per cent of food aid arrives in Somalia by sea, according to the WFP, which says the overall number of people in need of food assistance is expected to rise to 3.5 mn people by December, up from at least 2.6 mn now.

"Somalia is at a dire crossroads," Goossens said.

"If sufficient food and other humanitarian assistance cannot be scaled up in the coming months, parts of the country could well be in the grips of disaster similar to the 1992-1993 famine," when hundreds of thousands died, he said.

Earlier this week the UN issued fresh protests after gunmen killed a transport agent working for the WFP in Somalia.

The man, who was shot in southern Somalia on Sunday, was the fifth WFP-contracted worker and the twelfth aid worker to be killed this year in the African nation.

Aid groups have scaled down operations in Somalia because of increased insecurity, largely blamed on Islamic Court fighters who have waged a guerrilla war since they were ousted by joint Somali-Ethiopian forces in early 2007.

A desert nation of up to 10 mn people, Somalia has been ravaged by war since Mohamed Siad Barre, former leader, was ousted in 1991, that led to a power struggle.

A ceasefire, which came into force on July 9, a month after it was signed, has repeatedly been violated.

The latest violence occurred recently when fighters attacked a Mogadishu army camp, triggering clashes that claimed the lives of four civilians.

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