NAIROBI - One fifth of the residents of the Somali capital have fled in the past two months due to fighting between Ethiopian troops and Somali militias, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said some 208,000 people had left Mogadishu, home to an estimated one million inhabitants, since February 1, when clashes between the two sides intensified.
Last weekend, the agency said 124,000 people had fled the capital, but explained the sharp rise was because they had found other displaced people in the central Galgudud region, north of Mogadishu, who had not been accounted for.
Meanwhile, the World Food Progaramme said it was forced to take 320 tonnes of food aid back to Mogadishu after the government said the consignment had to be inspected before distribution.
The food was destined for some 32,000 people camped in Afgoye, about 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of the capital, after fleeing the violence in Mogadishu.
"The 320 metric tonnes of food returned to the capital this week after the convoy was turned back at a TFG (Transitional Federal Government) checkpoint," said Stephanie Savariaud, WFP's spokesman in Nairobi.
The agency urged those involved in the fighting "to give us the room to do our work and get food aid to people who are in desperate need," but said it also welcomed government inspections.
Somalia this month suffered its worst violence of the past 15 years when an Ethiopian offensive against insurgents triggered four days of battles in Mogadishu, killing at least 1,000 civilians.
Ethiopian forces helped the transitional government force the Islamic courts movement which out of Mogadishu at the start of the year.
Somalia has not had an effective government since the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 touched off a power struggle that exploded into inter-clan warfare. More than 14 attempts to restore a functional Somali government have since failed.
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