Somalia has denied accusations that officials destroyed a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized US-funded food aid.

It comes after the US halted assistance to the government of Somalia following reports about officials who "illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis".

In a statement, Somalia's foreign ministry said the food aid remains under the custody of the World Food Programme. It said the warehouse located within the Mogadishu port area was unaffected by ongoing port expansion activities.

"These operations have not affected the custody, management or distribution of humanitarian assistance," the statement said.

‘Transparency and accountability’

The Trump administration said any resumption of assistance would depend on the Somali government "taking accountability for its unacceptable actions and taking appropriate remedial steps," according to a social media post by the US state department.

Somalia’s foreign ministry said concerns on alleged seizure of humanitarian aid will be addressed by an inter-agency committee and that the government "remains committed to "transparency and accountability, and values its partnership with the United States".

In recent weeks Washington has repeatedly lashed out at Somalis in the US, targeting them in immigration raids in Minnesota and alleging large-scale public benefit fraud in the midwestern state's Somali community, the largest in the country with around 80,000 members.