Increasing violence in Somalia traps residents, blocks aid

Published: 2007-11-08

MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNS) -- Increasing violence in Somalia's capital has trapped residents as Catholic and other aid agencies call for an end to the humanitarian catastrophe. Doctors Without Borders told IRIN, the U.N. news agency, that many residents in Mogadishu have no safe place to go as the conflict between Islamic insurgents and allied Ethiopian-Somali government troops escalates. The international medical organization said Nov. 7 it was struggling to help residents, but that "some have bled to death as it was too dangerous to move them to hospitals," IRIN reported. "But Mogadishu's residents need more than medical care -- they need safety," Doctors Without Borders said. Doctors Without Borders "calls upon all warring factions to refrain from indiscriminate attacks on civilians and to respect international humanitarian law," IRIN noted. News of increased tension came after Catholic and other international aid agencies said in a late-October statement that they "cannot respond effectively to the crisis because access and security are deteriorating dramatically at a time when needs are increasing."

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