Aid groups warn against Kenya's UN bid to sanction Al-Shabaab

More than a quarter of a million people died in Somalia's last famine, which ran from 2010 to 2013. [AFP]

Kenya is urging the UN to list Al-Shabaab under the same sanctions as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, but foreign donors say the move could leave millions in drought-stricken Somalia without aid.

The proposed listing -- which could take effect as soon as Thursday -- comes at a critical time in Somalia, where 2.2 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the population, face the risk of severe hunger.