Geneva, 10 Feb 2008 - Somalia faces a severe humanitarian crisis for which the international community must take some of the blame, aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Friday.

Around a quarter of a million people have fled the capital Mogadishu alone due to heavy fighting between Islamist rebels and Ethiopian-backed government forces, MSF Operations Director Bruno Jochum told Agence France-Presse.

Ethiopia's intervention since 2006 has received tacit support from the West, who see the struggle against the Islamic rebels as part of the wider so-called " war on terror," MSF said.

Violence is now at its worst level since the early 1990s with hundreds of civilians killed and hundreds of thousands more forced to leave their homes.

"The situation is extremely critical in the outskirts of the capital," Jochum said.

He said the situation "is a full humanitarian crisis," but added that it is neglected by the media because of a lack of images as few journalists or broadcasters are on the ground.

Journalists and aid agencies have quit Somalia because of the unprecedented levels of violence since Ethiopian troops helped the country's fragile government overthrow rebels of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006.

Meanwhile, medical operations are hampered by a lack of supplies and surgical specialists, MSF said.

"There has been a collective failure by the international community," who must share some of the responsibility for the current situation, Jochum said.

MSF itself has pulled out all its international staff from the country after three of its personnel were killed by a roadside bomb last month.

A Kenyan doctor, a French logistics expert and a Somali driver with the aid group were killed, along with a local journalist, by a roadside bomb in the southwest of the country Jan. 28.

"We are still investigating the causes of the attack, and will maintain the suspension of international staff while we do so," Jochum said.

MSF is continuing to operate various projects in the country, which are run by senior Somali staff.

Fighting continues across the country, with Islamist rebels Thursday claiming responsibility for twin attacks in the northeast port city of Bossaso that left 20 dead, mostly Ethiopians.

Source: AFP