Thousands displaced following attack on central town

Officials in Guri-Eil town in Galgadud region have appealed for urgent help for thousands of people displaced after fighting between Ethiopian troops and insurgents over the weekend.

"Most of the [30,000] residents and thousands of displaced fled the town after intense fighting between the Ethiopians and the insurgents on Sunday [29 June]," Osman Isse Nur, the deputy district commissioner, told IRIN on 30 June.

He said the fighting began on 28 June when Ethiopian troops arrived in the area, "but was most intense on Sunday. At least 100 shells landed in the town last evening [29 June]."

Nur said Guri-Eil, 440km north of Mogadishu, was hosting about 30,000 displaced people from Mogadishu, who were now again displaced. "Everyone is now a displaced person."

He said people scattered in three directions. "Some have sought refuge in the northwest; others in the south and the rest have gone northeast," he said.

Eleven people died in the fighting and 31 were injured, he said.

Most of the displaced were reported to be sheltering on the outskirts of the town, without water, food or proper shelter.

Zahra Abdulkadir, a mother of six, said: "I left Mogadishu to find peace here, now I am running again. I don’t know when this will end."

She said the shortages of water, food and shelter were their main problems. "We did not take much when we left and with the hot weather, there is no shelter from the sun," she added.

She said many of the displaced were already weak and "could not last very long in the open. I don't know how long we will survive under these conditions."

A local journalist told IRIN the two sides were still facing each other, "with insurgents digging in on both sides of the Ethiopian lines. They [insurgents] don’t seem to be going anywhere."

He said the town was quiet on 30 June but fears of a major military offensive had sparked another civilian exodus from the town. "Those who had not left last night are taking advantage of today's lull in the fighting to do so."

Nur appealed for emergency aid for the displaced. "They have no shelter from the scorching sun, no water and no food."

He said both the displaced and host community were reeling from the high inflation rate and drought, "and now this. We need help now," he said.

Since fighting between Ethiopian-backed Somali forces and insurgents intensified in early 2007, about one million Somalis have fled their homes. An estimated 6,500 civilians have been killed.

Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance. That number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

ah/mw