U.N. agency halts food aid in southern Somalia

"Rising threats and attacks on humanitarian operations, as well as the imposition of a string of unacceptable demands from armed groups, have made it virtually impossible for WFP to continue reaching up to one million people in need in southern Somalia," the United Nations organization said in a statement.

The World Food Program has evacuated staff members, equipment and food aid from the south to central Somalia.

The shutdown is one of the group's largest retreats in years, meaning its food aid may reach only 1.8 million people instead of its target of 2.8 million.

The militant Islamic group Shabab, which has taken control of much of the country's south, last year gave the World Food Program a deadline of Jan. 1 to leave. The agency says farmers can't provide the food required to feed the million hungry Somalis in the south.

"WFP is deeply concerned about rising hunger and suffering among the most vulnerable due to these unprecedented and inhumane attacks on purely humanitarian operations," the agency's statement said. The organization said it was ready to provide food aid to refugees who moved north because of hunger.

Shabab has threatened human rights activists, journalists and aid workers in recent months. Some have been kidnapped, others shot.