U.N. humanitarian chief appeals for more help for Somalia

The U.N.'s top humanitarian official has appealed for more help for Somalia as an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians this year brought fresh bloodshed in the capital.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said Monday that aid agencies are struggling to operate because of violence in this Horn of Africa nation, which the U.N. says faces Africa's biggest humanitarian crisis.

"There is a (humanitarian) response but it is not adequate. It is terrible over here," Holmes told reporters after landing about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

He also visited a therapeutic …