UN appeals for calm as thousands flee Mogadishu

The United Nations humanitarian agency on Monday appealed to warring factions in the Somali capital of Mogadishu to make a ceasefire, saying the fighting in war-infested city has greatly increased suffering of Somalis.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Somalia said it was extremely alarmed by the deteriorating condition of the civilian population in Mogadishu and called upon all parties to act with humanity.

"All parties are urged to take all the necessary measures to prevent unnecessary human suffering," OCHA said in a statement.

"Any deliberate attempts to prevent wounded and, or civilians from receiving assistance and protection are intolerable, and in gross violation of international humanitarian law."

Hundreds of people are believed to have died in the deadly clashes since last Thursday, the worst since a war over the New Year ousted the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) from the capital.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said about 96,000 people have fled the bullet-scarred Mogadishu over the past two months in the latest of periodic mass exoduses from the capital during the last 15 years.

"The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Somalia hopes that the tenuous calm in Mogadishu since Sunday will hold so as to enable humanitarian partners to assist civilians and the displaced," said the OCHA.

It said indiscriminate heavy artillery and mortar shells have rained down on the city in recent days, hitting residential areas and resulting in a large but as of yet unresolved number of deaths and casualties.

Source: Xinhua