MOGADISHU, SOMALIA—The Somali militant group al-Shabab on Monday banned 16 aid groups — including a half dozen U.N. agencies — from central and southern Somalia, a rejection of assistance that falls in line with the group's skeptical view of the outside world.

The banning of the aid groups is likely to seriously affect poor residents, hundreds of thousands of whom are suffering from the region's drought and famine. A yearlong drought wiped out crops and animals herds in the region, killing tens of thousands of people over the last six months and forcing tens of thousands more to flee as refugees.

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