Somalia Security: Aid agencies accuse al-Shabaab of extortion, kidnapping

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Aid agencies in Somalia are accusing the terrorist group al-Shabaab of making millions of dollars through extortion. The jihadists have also been accused by rights groups of human rights violations, including the use of children as soldiers and suicide bombers. CGTN's Abdulaziz Billow reports from Mogadishu.

In parts of the country, aid agencies require air support to deliver humanitarian assistance to drought victims - this UN helicopter is delivering aid to Wajid, southwest of Mogadishu - that has been under Al-Shabaab's blockade for years.

The blockade mostly on towns in southern Somalia has proved challenging for UN and other international aid organizations from reaching the needy.

For years, aid agencies continue to be a target for the group - that's being accused of making huge sums of money by extorting aid agencies delivering aid in south Somalia

STEVEN LAUWERIER UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE, SOMALIA "As an aid worker in Somalia, we should not be a target, and sometimes we are a target when delivering aid in this country."

Somalia has been hit by a series of droughts, and only a massive aid effort averted the deaths of hundreds of thousands last year.

According to former members of the group and credible intelligence reports reveals that thousands of dollars is paid through roadblocks and taxes on merchants attempting to transport food and supplies in towns where they are concentrated.

HASSAN IMAM INDEPENDENT ANALYST "There is a huge gap between drought-affected people and those bringing in aid. Armed groups are to blame for this gap. And it all comes down to the lack of an effective government - authorities must ensure the road is secure. This way humanitarian agencies can not only reach the poor but also avert many things."

PETER DE CLERCQ HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR, SOMALIA "In Somalia, health and aid workers who care for people who are affected by violence and other climatic shortcomings are being targeted. Medicine and relief supplies are looted. Humanitarian aid workers are detained or denied access to people in desperate need. This is unacceptable".

ABDULAZIZ BILLOW MOGADISHU, SOMALIA "Thousands flee from Al-Shabaab controlled areas to government manned areas to receive humanitarian aid. But in areas under the groups control, young children have often been a target, forcibly recruiting hundreds of children as soldiers and suicide bombers to carry out attacks in some of the country's major capitals."

In late January, Somalia's government announced that it rescued 35 children from an Al-Shabab training camp - the underage children were forced into joining the group that's currently enduring financial pressures and increased aerial bombardment by U.S. drones

The group mostly targets learning centers and mosques to lure young fighters to the group - Mogadishu has since offered amnesty to all those who denounce the group

A 22,000 strong multinational force has been battling the group for over a decade now - the country's president recently declared war against the group - vowing to crush the insurgent group now ranked as the continents deadliest terrorist outfit. AB, CGTN, MOG – SOM.