SOMALIA: Somalis flee chaotic capital to a harder life

Battles in the Somali capital force nearly 90,000 people to flee to the outskirts of the city, causing a humanitarian crisis. Three days of fighting between Ethiopian forces supporting Somalia's interim government and Islamist-led rebels in Mogadishu that began last weekend has now displaced 88,000 residents, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has said. Hundreds of thousands fled violence earlier this year. Residents say several dozen people have died in this week's fighting and many have been forced into hiding. The battles have cut the ability of aid workers to respond effectively to what charities call an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa nation. Inhabitants have been streaming out of the city all week on foot or carried by carts, donkeys and motor vehicles. Many have settled in camps on the outskirts of Mogadishu, where they live in makeshift shelters made of tattered sheets and sticks by the road. Seventy-year-old Faduma Hassan Geelle fled her home months ago after all her children were killed. She lives in a settlement 25 km (16 miles) south of the capital and is surviving on donations from families in the neighbourhood. "I had fled Mogadishu before then I went back thinking everything was fine, while there, they killed all my children and I had to flee again, I have nothing left," said Faduma. Somalia's U.N.-backed government is struggling to impose its authority on the country, and its forces in Mogadishu and their Ethiopian allies face daily attacks from the insurgents. With the international agenda dominated by other hotspots including Sudan's Darfur, humanitarian workers say the Somali crisis is not getting the attention it deserves. "You see, we fled from our houses to this condition, now is the rainy season, and we all lack food, shelter and clean water," said Habiba Nur Ali, describing the tough condition they have to live in. When allied Ethiopian and Somali government troops launched two offensives against Islamist hideouts in Mogadishu earlier this year, hundreds of civilians died and 400,000 fled, according to U.N. and aid group figures. Most have not returned. The transitional government is regarded by many Western governments as the best hope of creating a national authority in Somalia. Thirteen previous attempts have failed since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's ousting in 1991.

ITN Source | November 3, 2007

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