NAIROBI, May 29 (Xinhua) — International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday warned of a sharp deterioration of humanitarian situation in the war-torn Somalia, saying hopes of thousands of Somalis have been shattered by the ongoing fighting.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the organization said dozens of people have been killed in the capital Mogadishu since the intensification of armed clashes at the beginning of the month.

The ICRC said hundreds have been wounded and thousands more have been forced to flee their homes into neighboring countries.

“Some of the displaced had only recently returned to Mogadishu. They were hoping to be able to rebuild their lives in a more stable environment,” said Pascal Mauchle, who heads the ICRC delegation for Somalia. “Their hopes have now been shattered, and their painful ordeal continues.”

According to ICRC, many of those fleeing are women and children and are joining hundreds of thousands of displaced people in camps on the outskirts of the city and other areas of the country, or even in already overpopulated refugee camps in neighboring countries.

“The situation is a cause for major concern,” said Mauchle. “The displaced usually leave their homes with very few belongings, and struggle to survive. In Somalia’s makeshift camps they don’t have suitable food and clean water. Insalubrious conditions put their already weakened health further at risk.”

There are also pockets of violence in other parts of the country. Armed clashes have driven people from their homes in several cities in central and southern Somalia.

“Host communities are not able to help them as they would like to do, in accordance with Somali tradition,” said the organization which said was responding to the situation in a number of ways.

The effects of years of armed conflict, a chronic shortage of rainfall as well as the ongoing economic crisis have exhausted the resources of the resident population and have made it difficult for any family to feed its own children.

Many of the displaced therefore remain without any protection, shelter, food or even utensils with which to prepare a meal.

“Life is very difficult,” said Fatima, a mother of four from Mogadishu. “My children ask me about their father every day. I don’t know what to tell them, because I don’t know what happened to him. I am struggling to find something to eat. We don’t have a place to sleep. All I want is a safe place to raise my children.”

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991 after former President Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in a coup d’état which led to a deterioration of security in the capital, Mogadishu and the entire country.

Source: Xinhua