GENEVA (AFP) — Clashes between Islamist rebels and Somalia's government have killed some 250 civilians and forced more than 160,000 to flee their homes since last month, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
The fighting "is leaving a trail of civilian casualties, destruction and renewed displacement," said William Spindler, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"According to records of local Somali hospitals, more than 250 civilians have been killed and at least 900 wounded since last month," he said.
"We estimate that since the start of the fighting in May, more than 160,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere within Somalia or in neighboring countries."
He said that some 26,000 were displaced from Mogadishu between June 19 and June 22 alone amid an Islamist offensive that has seen them take control of much of the country.
Large numbers of people have fled to neighbouring Kenya, where 38,000 new refugees have arrived since the start of the year, nearly all Somalis, according to the agency.
The Dadaab camp in Kenya, which the UNHCR calls the largest refugee complex in the world with more than 280,000 people, saw 4,104 arrivals in June.
Those fleeing the capital have also faced major difficulties in trying to leave, with most seeking rides on minibuses that charge 250 dollars (178 euros) or more for a fare in the impoverished country, according to the UNHCR.
A mother-of-six told aid workers "it took her nine days to reach Afmadow as the local transporters took her money and then left her and her children stranded along the route," according to the UNHCR.
Afmadow is some 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.
"The deteriorating security situation has sharply reduced deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian aid to the displaced in and around Mogadishu," said Spindler.
Somalia's speaker last week made an urgent appeal for foreign military intervention to prop up the internationally backed government, which has been facing a fierce insurgent military offensive since May 7.
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