Battles rock Mogadishu, refugees flee

Last Updated::2007-11-02 13:24:31

Battles broke out again in the Somali capital on Friday killing at least one, wounding four and stoking the nation's humanitarian crisis after nearly 90,000 people fled days of fighting earlier this week.

Ethiopian forces supporting Somalia's interim government are trying to crush Islamist-led rebels. A Reuters witness said clashes resumed before dawn in the heart of the coastal capital.

One civilian was killed, while the four wounded were hit by stray bullets and shrapnel from artillery strikes, residents and local media said.

The battles have cut the ability of aid workers to respond effectively to what 39 charities said this week was an unfolding "humanitarian catastrophe" in the Horn of Africa nation.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said three days of fighting that began last weekend had displaced 88,000 residents, adding to hundreds of thousands who fled violence earlier this year.

Witnesses say inhabitants are streaming out of the city on foot, carts, donkeys and vehicles. Most are heading for the town of Afgoye, west of Mogadishu, or stopping in makeshift shelters on the road between.

The U.N.-backed interim 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 foreign correspondents largely staying out of Somalia due to the insecurity, and the international agenda dominated by other hotspots including Sudan's Darfur, humanitarian workers say the Somali crisis is not getting the attention it deserves.

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.