The UN World Food Program (WFP) said Wednesday it had resumed normal operations in Somalia after a two-week disruption caused by a land, air and sea ban imposed by the Somali government.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, WFP said its common air services passenger and cargo flights, which resumed airdrops last Friday from Nairobi to Somalia, are continuing though flights to Mogadishu cannot start until an assessment is carried out by the UN Department of Safety and Security.

"National staff relocated by road from the southern port of Kismayo westward to Afmadow, Hagar and then on Monday to Buale, which is under control of the Transitional Federal Government, were flown on Tuesday to WFP's logistics base in the southern Somali town of Wajid," the statement said.

The resumption of airdrops followed the interim government's giving permission for humanitarian flights to resume after declaring Somalia's land, air and sea borders closed on Dec. 25 as the UN was struggling to feed half a million people affected by floods.

WFP said more than 100 national staff in Somalia operating from 15 offices across the country are continuing to distribute food to victims of the floods and other vulnerable people.

"WFP is also investigating the viability of resuming food delivery by boat. It is doubtful that airdrops from the Kenyan port of Mombasa will resume in Somalia given the improved road access and the relative expense of airdrops," it said.

The Ethiopia-backed transitional government forces were on Wednesday pursuing remnant fighters of the SCIC southwards from Kismayo towards the Kenyan border, and latest reports claim the number of killed and wounded continues to rise.

Aid agency International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there is no exact information on the number of casualties so far, but it is believed that hundreds of people have been killed and more than 800 wounded, including both civilians and fighters.

The ICRC also said thousands of civilians had fled their homes, although displacement has generally been over short distances and for short periods.

Recurrent natural calamities have compounded misery for people in the country, where recent flooding affected about a million people.

Somalia has been lacking an effective government since the 1991 ouster of ruler Mohamed Siad Barre.

Source: Xinhua