The United Nations said Thursday that more aid was needed to relieve famine in the Horn of Africa, as aid efforts continue.

Some $250 million (173 million euros) have poured in this week, but the number of people in need is also rising each day, as they flock to feeding centres and refugee camps seeking assistance.

The UN Refugee Agency meanwhile said it would need more funds than originally thought to aid Somalis, both those inside the country and people who have fled to neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia as a result of war and drought.

Fighting breaks out

A day after the UN began flying in emergency aid to famine-stricken Somalia, government forces have attacked an insurgent stronghold in the capital, Mogadishu.

"There is heavy fighting in several locations," said Ali Muse, the head of the Mogadishu ambulance service. "Some civilians were injured in the crossfire," he said.

Local al-Shabab insurgents have vowed to break Somalia's transitional government and have also threatened to disrupt the distribution of aid.

But officials from the UN World Food Program (WFP) have confirmed the arrival in Mogadishu of the first plane carrying food supplies from Kenya on Wednesday.

The initial shipment included 10 tons of supplementary foods which are high in protein and calories, as well as essential vitamins and nutrients - enough to support 3,500 children for one month.

The WFP said it would fly an additional 70 tons of supplies into Somalia over the coming days.

Supplies arriving slowly

The UN estimates tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the drought and famine plaguing the Horn of Africa region. Over 3.7 million people are in need of assistance in Somalia, which is still reeling from 20 years of civil war.

The UN says another 70 tons of aid will be flown in from Kenya

Some eight million more people face starvation in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The airlift to the Somali capital Mogadishu was announced on Monday but faced delays at the Kenyan customs office.

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said that refugees in makeshift settlements were fighting over supplies being distributed.

"Even if people are able to obtain the food and water being distributed, they often lack even the most basic containers to carry it," a UNHCR spokesperson said. "Often, they must haul food and water in plastic bags."

Aid restricted

International aid groups say they are unable to reach some two million Somalis facing starvation in parts of the country controlled by Islamist militants.

The WFP confirmed that the UN was still unable to freely operate in the southern areas of Somalia, where people are said to be in greatest need. The regions are under the control of the Islamist al-Shabab militia.

"Security in Somalia is still our main challenge," said Fatoumata LeJeune-Kaba from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Large swathes of Somalia are controlled by militiamen

Aid agencies said they were attempting to negotiate directly with militiamen in order to hand out basic humanitarian supplies to civilians and offer medical services. So far, only the International Committee of the Red Cross and some smaller Muslim charities have reported being given permission to operate in areas under Islamist control.

Refugee crisis

Meanwhile in Brussels, Kristalina Georgieva, European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said that the EU was giving an extra 28 million euros ($40.2 million) in aid on top of 70 million euros already granted this year.

She said Somalis needed help immediately. "We have to make every effort possible to bring help into Somalia, partly to prevent people from having to take the long walk across borders, potentially adding to refugee problems. But also because time is not on our side."

Some 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced, including 100,000 people who have migrated to Mogadishu in the last two months. A further 800,000 have fled to camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.

Overcrowded camps

The Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, built for 90,000, currently houses over 380,000 people - many of whom made the perilous journey by foot, leaving dying relatives along the way.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said the overcrowded camp does not meet "minimum humanitarian standards."

The UN says it faces the challenge of relocating Somali refugees to less crowded areas. Some 1,000 refugees were moved to a new site this week.

Mogadishu has been swamped by refugees from around Somalia

Kenya only last week changed its policy to allow the UN to build

new sites to house those fleeing the disaster.

The UN has raised more than $1 billion in aid for the Horn

of Africa - mostly from European countries, the United States, Canada and Japan - but it says it still needs to raise an additional billion in aid.

Author: David Levitz, Zulfikar Abbany (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Editor: Ben Knight