Humanitarian crisis in Mogadishu concerns UN

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"The humanitarian crisis that has hit the country since the outbreak of the civil war in 1991 has reached a critical point," Elisabeth Byrs, of the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters.

Nearly 1.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the crisis started, Byrs said, adding that the situation has been steadily getting even worse since May.

"Civilians have increasingly become the victims of the fighting between armed groups in (the capital) Mogadishu," she told reporters.

More than 200 000 people had fled the city since May because of the surge in fighting.
"The situation is really very worrying," she said, and the timing could not be worse.

"Somalia is suffering its worst drought in four years," she explained, jeopardising the livelihoods of more than 700 000 herders in the north, whose livestock is threatened.

To meet the new crisis, the United Nations was launching an appeal for more money to help the 3.2 million Somalis now dependent on international aid.
So far, they had only just over half the $849-million they needed, said Byrs.

Somalia has been mired in unrest since 1991 and is currently in the grip of a fierce insurgency, with hardline Islamist militias waging a campaign to topple the African Union-backed government.
The fighting has been particularly fierce in and around Mogadishu.

Source: Iol.co.za