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12 000 uprooted in Somalia
30/03/2007 21:11 - (SA)
Geneva - More than 12 000 people have
fled fighting in Mogadishu in the past week and a humanitarian
crisis there is intensifying with aid workers unable to access
the needy, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
Dozens of civilians have been killed by mortar rounds and
gunfire in the Somali capital, where Ethiopian and Somali troops
are battling militant Islamic insurgents, said William Spindler
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"There has been a steady outflow from Mogadishu," he told a
news conference on Friday, estimating 57 000 people have been
uprooted by the conflict since the beginning of February.
Those fleeing the capital have headed south to Lower
Shabelle or northeast to Galkayo, a difficult journey where they
risk being robbed, raped, abducted or killed, Spindler said.
Many of the displaced are hungry, suffer from health
problems such as diarrhoea, and face harassment from bandits.
"Those arriving are often destitute and dependent on other
people to support them," he said. UNHCR has distributed basic
relief items such as plastic sheets to Galkayo.
- Reuters
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