Refugee crisis growing at Dadaab, charity warns

The children are among nearly 1,300 people who arrive daily at the Dadaab refugee camps, some of them "in incredibly dire situations," said the aid group's Kenya programme director Catherine Fitz-gibbon.

"Children have made long journeys in terrifying conditions, often losing their families along the way and arriving at the camps in desperate need of security, health care and a normal life," she said.

"Nearly every child or parent we have spoken to says they are not just fleeing fighting in Somalia - the drought and food crisis are equally perilous to them now."

The influx of refugees is placing further strain on the Dadaab camps, which are the world's largest refugee camps.

They were originally built to hold 90,000 people, but now house some 360,000 refugees.

Somalia's weak central government and Uganda and Burundi have stepped up fierce offensives against the Shabab or "Youth" Islamist movement in recent weeks, killing an unknown number of civilians and militants.

And the Obama administration is sending nearly $45 million (£28m) in military equipment, including four drones, to Uganda and Burundi to help them escalate their bloody campaign in Somalia.

The Youth is an offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union administration, which brought a measure of stability to the impoverished country before it was toppled by US-backed Ethiopian forces in 2006.

foreigneditor@peoples-press.com