Qatar Red Crescent to send relief aid to Mali's rebel-held north

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar said on Thursday it was launching relief efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people suffering from conflict and drought in northern Mali, where foreign aid groups had to abandon work when it fell under the control of Islamist groups.

People uprooted or trapped by the conflict are going without enough food, aid groups say. That is being compounded by a wider crisis across the Sahel region of West Africa, where the U.N. says that 18 million people are facing hunger because of drought, failed crops, insect swarms and high food prices.