Armed groups besieging towns in northeastern Mali driving residents, many children, to hunger

By BABA AHMED and JESSICA DONATI
Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A humanitarian crisis is worsening in northeastern Mali where armed groups linked to Islamic State have besieged towns leaving residents including some 80,000 children vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. The town of Ménaka, in northeastern Mali, has been under siege for four months, driving up the prices of food. Other essential goods like medication are increasingly hard to find, residents and aid groups say. “The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, with displaced people going from house to house asking for food for their families. Children are threatened with starvation,” said Wani Ould Hamadi, deputy mayor of the town of Ménaka.