The rebel group that controls two famine-stricken regions of Somalia is rejecting international reports of the crisis.

Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage said Thursday the United Nations' declaration of famine in Somalia is “100% false and propaganda.”

The U.N. this week declared a famine in southern Somalia's Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, both strongholds of the al-Qaida-linked militant group. The world body says nearly half of Somalia's population of 3.7 million people is in crisis.

Rage said there is a drought in the region but denied the lack of rain had led to widespread hunger. He said the U.N. was using reports of the crisis for political reasons.

Al-Shabab recently allowed some foreign aid agencies into the region, reversing a ban on most relief groups. The United Nations World Food Program said Thursday it would soon open new land and air routes into the region, where al-Shabab has made it hard to reach starving people.

But in a statement posted on the al-Shabab website Thursday, Rage said the group would not allow certain banned organizations to return. He said the militants were allowing aid from organizations already present in the region, but that it would continue to block previously banned groups. He did not specify any organizations.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, speaking from Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, said the agency aims to establish operating conditions that will ensure safe conditions for aid workers in the region.

Relief groups say personnel must keep a low profile to avoid being targeted by the militants, whose members sometimes demand payments and seize deliveries.

The U.N. estimates that tens of thousands of Somalis have already died of malnutrition. It warns a rapid increase in aid is needed to prevent the widespread loss of life.

Overall, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in six decades. The U.N. has said more than 11 million people are in need of food aid.