250px|Somali children waiting to receive food aid. 175px|Two Somali girls with United States food aid. With violence against foreigners escalating daily, and after being deluged with various threats and demands from al-Shabaab, a radical Islamic militant group with ties to al-Qaeda, the United Nations World Food Programme announced on Tuesday that, as of the end of this week, they are going to suspend all of their operations within southern Somalia—including the distribution of desperately needed food aid to Somali civilians. This is now the third humanitarian agency, after CARE International and Doctors Without Borders, to evacuate from the war-torn nation. The pull out, which will include the closing down of all UN offices and the withdrawal of all local staff, is going to effect over one million Somalis—many of whom relay on this food program for their daily meals . When asked by the New York Times to further explain the UN's decision, Peter Smerdon, a spokesperson for the program, said via telephone from Nairobi, Kenya, "In the past few weeks there has been a harder line of unacceptable demands and conditions set by armed groups (such as al-Shabaab) in these areas. We sadly had to make the decision to pull our staff out." In a nation that—due to civil war—has not had a functioning government in over two decades, Islamic extremists groups—such as al-Shabaab—as well as various warlords and pirate gangs control most of the Horn of Africa nation, except for its besieged capital, Mogadishu, which is protected by African Union and NATO troops in addition to UN peacekeepers.  According to the UN, al-Shabaab—which has direct influence over the area that is going to be effected—presented their offices with numerous lists of demands. Among their demands was that the UN pay Shabaab a $20,000 protection fee every six months, seek Shabaab approval for all their projects, fire their entire female staff, and run their operations according to the militant group's schedule.
 With violence against foreigners escalating daily, and after being deluged with various threats and demands from al-Shabaab, a radical Islamic militant group with ties to al-Qaeda, the United Nations World Food Programme announced on Tuesday that, as of the end of this week, they are going to suspend all of their operations within southern Somalia—including the distribution of desperately needed food aid to Somali civilians. This is now the third humanitarian agency, after CARE International and Doctors Without Borders, to evacuate from the war-torn nation. The pull out, which will include the closing down of all UN offices and the withdrawal of all local staff, is going to effect over one million Somalis—many of whom relay on this food program for their daily meals 250px|German United Nations peacekeepers onboard an armored personnel carrier (APC). When asked by the New York Times to further explain the UN's decision, Peter Smerdon, a spokesperson for the program, said via telephone from Nairobi, Kenya, "In the past few weeks there has been a harder line of unacceptable demands and conditions set by armed groups (such as al-Shabaab) in these areas. We sadly had to make the decision to pull our staff out." In a nation that—due to civil war—has not had a functioning government in over two decades, Islamic extremists groups—such as al-Shabaab—as well as various warlords and pirate gangs control most of the Horn of Africa nation, except for its besieged capital, Mogadishu, which is protected by African Union and NATO troops in addition to UN peacekeepers. 250px|A Somali boy receiving a polio vaccination as part of the UNITAF relief effort. According to the UN, al-Shabaab—which has direct influence over the area that is going to be effected—presented their offices with numerous lists of demands. Among their demands was that the UN pay Shabaab a $20,000 protection fee every six months, seek Shabaab approval for all their projects, fire their entire female staff, and run their operations according to the militant group's schedule.
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250px|Somali children waiting to receive food aid. 175px|Two Somali girls with United States food aid.
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250px|German United Nations peacekeepers onboard an armored personnel carrier (APC).
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250px|A Somali boy receiving a polio vaccination as part of the UNITAF relief effort.