 Written by Rachelle Kliger Published Tuesday, July 01, 2008 |
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Thousands of Somalis have been displaced following fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamist fighters over the weekend.Guri-Eil, located about 440 kilometers north of the capital, witnessed intense fighting over the weekend, causing thousands to flee. Many of those affected had already fled from fighting in Mogadishu and have now been displaced again. The town was hosting around 30,000 displaced people.
Officials in the town are appealing for urgent help for the thousands of homeless.
Fighting in Guri-Eil began on Saturday and intensified over Sunday when more than 100 shells were fired onto the town.
Osman Isse Nur, deputy district commissioner, said 11 people died in the fighting and those displaced have scattered in three directions, according to IRIN.
Many of those displaced are reportedly on the outskirts of the town but are without water, food or proper shelter, and officials are appealing for emergency aid.
This is the first time the fighting has reached Guri-Eil since fighting intensified last March.
Tom Quinn, Doctors Without Borders’ (MSF) head of the mission in Somalia, said much of the population of Guri-Eil has fled to the bushes since the weekend. The fighting subsided somewhat on Tuesday morning, he added.
“Our hospital there remained open throughout, although around 50 percent of the patients fled out of fear,” Quinn told The Media Line. Twenty-three people have been hospitalized because of conflict-related injuries since the weekend.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991.
In 2006 Islamists took over the capital and large parts of the country for several months.
They were defeated by Somali security forces, with backing from the Ethiopian army in January 2007.
However, the Islamists have since regrouped and the country has faced deadly attacks on civilians, security forces and peacekeepers on practically a daily basis.
Hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the capital and, according to aid organizations, more than 6,000 people were killed in clashes throughout 2007.
Quinn said since the conflict intensified in Mogadishu last year, many people have fled the capital to Guri-Eil where they have family or clan members who are willing to take them in. This has created a surge in the town’s population, where families of six people are effectively hosting up to 40 people in the same compound, he said.
“In Guri-Eil we saw the town effectively double in size over the past year,” Quinn said.
Source: MediaLine, July 01, 2008