Some 90,000 Flee Somali Capital In A Week: UN Refugee Agency

GENEVA, November 2, 2007 — About 90,000 people have fled the Somali capital Mogadishu over the past week during a resurgence in fighting between Ethiopian troops and insurgents there, the UN refugee agency said Friday.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the flow had slowed in recent days after the violence subsided.

"The situation however remains volatile and tense," UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.

The UNHCR said about 450,000 people were now displaced after fleeing the capital this year, out of a total of 850,000 displaced people in Somalia.

Aid agencies said the new group who had fled along the road to the nearby town of Afgooye appeared to be bedding down for long term stay outside their homes.

"They do not want to go back to Mogadishu in the near future. You can see it because they're building more solid shelters than those that were already there," said World Food Programme spokeswoman Christiane Berthiuame.

More than 2,500 tones of food were distributed to 110,000 displaced between Mogadishu and Afgoye, she added.

Source: AFP