Frontline News
© UNHCR/ M. Sheik Nor
A displaced Somali boy in front of a makeshift shelter on the outskirts of Mogadishu. In the first weeks of 2010, more than 63,000 Somalis have been forced from their homes.
63,000 Somalis flee fighting in first weeks of 2010
Conflict continues in the capital Mogadishu where, according to local sources, street battles last Wednesday between government forces and Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam militiamen left at least 10 people dead, including children. In the first two weeks of January, some 14,000 people were displaced from and within the city.
Recent fighting in the central Somalia town of Belet Weyne on January 9, reportedly killing at least 30 civilians, injuring another 50, and has forced thousands of people from their homes.
Meanwhile, in Dhuusamarreeb, located in the central region of Somalia Galgaduud, the reported number of people displaced following renewed clashes between militants early this year has also risen. UNHCR estimates that some 28,800 people are now displaced in villages surrounding the town of Dhuusamarreeb. They are in urgent need of shelter, water and health care.
According to sketchy reports, at least 150 people have been killed and 80 injured in the fighting in this part of Somalia. As the struggle for control of the territory continues, insecurity makes it extremely difficult for aid workers to access the area and deliver vital assistance.
Background info
The suffering in Somalia is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with some 1.5 million people internally displaced and more than 560,000 people living as refugees in neighbouring countries, mainly in Kenya (309,000), Yemen (163,000) and Ethiopia (59,000).
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Since the resumption of the violence in Mogadishu in May 2009, more than a quarter of a million people have fled their homes. Most of them have settled in other areas of Mogadishu or not far from the capital. Just $10 could change somebody's life.
