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Hundreds of families are fleeing the southern town of Baidoa after intense fighting broke out again on Tuesday, local residents told IRIN on Wednesday.
"Anyone who can is leaving today [Wednesday]", one resident said. The exodus follows three days of fighting in the last four days between opposing militias in the area.
"After yesterday's fighting many people have given up hope that this will end anytime soon," a local businessman told IRIN. He said Tuesday's clashes were the "most intense and widespread", affecting almost all parts of the town. "For the first time, the commercial part of town came under heavy bombardment," he said.
All business activity had come to a standstill "with shops and other commercial places closed", he added. Many business people were removing merchandise and taking it to safer places.
Families were taking advantage of a lull in the fighting on Wednesday to reach safety. They were going either to Bur Hakaba, 60 km southeast of Baidoa, or Hudur, 180 km northwest of town, "depending on what part of town you find yourself in", a resident told IRIN.
There was a "green line" dividing the town, with Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, the chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), in control of the southern part, and his two deputies, Shaykh Adan Madobe and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, holding the northern part, the source added.
The fighting first broke out on 1 July between forces loyal to Shatigadud and those loyal to his two deputies in an apparent power struggle.
According to local sources, the fighting has so far claimed over 100 lives and left more than 200 wounded, many of the them in serious condition due to lack of proper medical attention. "There are no doctors to speak of and absolutely no medicine," one source told IRIN. "Many of the wounded are dying due to loss of blood, since there is nothing to stem it."
A humanitarian source told IRIN that all aid agencies operating in Baidoa had evacuated their expatriate staff after the fighting resumed on Tuesday.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
