Unicef has warned that children in Somalia are “on the edge” as the most malnourished are too weak to even cry.

Displaced families in the Ladan camp in the town of Dollow have fled the drought that has ravaged swaths of the nation after four failed rain seasons.

Shamso Nur Hussein, a 20-year-old widow with three children, told the Associated Press she had only had black tea since the morning. She had fled their village after losing all her farm animals.

Aid workers say the raging war in the Middle East — more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) away — has made their work even more difficult.

UNICEF says it has $15.7m worth of lifesaving supplies in transit or being prepared for delivery to Somalia, but those shipments now are uncertain.

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, said: “What we’re seeing is that children are really on the edge already, and that’s because of drought and crisis in places.”