Humanitarian crisis grips Somalia

Nairobi: Aid agencies in Somalia are bracing to cope with casualties from the front lines, the flight of thousands of people from conflict zones and increased disruption of relief shipment.

Already living in one of the world's poorest and most violent countries, Somalis face more suffering after the outbreak of war between their government and a rival Islamist movement.

"Our colleagues in the field have never seen such devastating violence in Somalia in 10 years," Pedram Yazdi, a delegate for the Somalia operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told Reuters.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday it was temporarily suspending air drops of relief aid in Somalia.

It also temporarily recalled to Kenya two Mi-8 helicopters and 25 humanitarian workers, including eight international staff, from Somalia's Kismayu.

"The decision was taken following a request from the authorities in Kismayu because of expected instability," WFP said in a statement.

Despite a week of warfare in southern Somalia between the Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed interim government, there has not yet been the mass exodus of refugees many feared.

However, witnesses report people streaming away from flashpoint areas and aid workers at northern Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps are preparing for a worst case scenario of 200,000 people crossing the border from Somalia.

Already this year 34,000 Somalis, including many who fled fighting when the Islamists took Mogadishu and a swathe of south Somalia in June, have joined one of Dadaab's three camps of flimsy huts built on sandy scrubland. The camps now house 168,000 people, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

Before last week's flare-up, more than half a million of Somalia's 10 million people were receiving emergency aid due in part to a drought followed by the worst floods for years.

"Should the conflict continue it would be a massive burden on aid agencies," WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon said.

ICRC said its staff have verified at least 800 wounded admitted to local clinics during a week of fighting.

"The figure is rising every day. We don't have figures of deaths because they are not brought to the hospitals," Yazdi said. "But considering the daily increase of wounded, it is easy to say the violence has already killed many."

Yazdi said ICRC was supporting 23 clinics across south-central Somalia and three hospitals in the Mogadishu area.

Unicef said youngsters were particularly at risk due to separation from families, displacement and conscription by both sides.

"An increase in recruitment and use of children ... in armed forces and groups by all parties to the conflict has also been observed," Unicef said in a statement.