Over 5,000 displaced in increased military operations in southern Somalia-UNHCR
Those fleeing the conflict include families who were former IDPs but returned in 2014 and 2015
Sustained airstrikes and heightened ground military operations in Lower Shabelle region this month have displaced over 5,000 people forcing them to flee to the capital Mogadishu, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has said.
The agency’s Protection & Return Monitoring Network (PRMN) which covers displacements in Middle and Lower Shabelle regions said airstrikes and fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab in Barire and Barsa had displaced 5,700 people since the beginning of the month.
“Between 1st and 20th November 2017, fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab in Barire , Basra main town and surrounding villages displaced an estimated 956 households (approximately 5700 individuals) to Mogadishu in search of safety and access to humanitarian assistance,” the UN body said in a flash report released Friday.
Majority of the displaced persons joined one of the twenty IDP settlements along the KM13 and KM14 stretch in Daynille and Kaxda Districts, Mogadishu, the report notes.
The report also indicates an estimated 2,976 persons were forced to flee over fighting in Afgoye district between November 5th and 17th. The hardest hit areas are Bakhdad, Buhow, Danida, Alifoow and Baldooska.
“This generalized insecurity, which has led to a sharp increase in the number of road blocks and checkpoints, has also precipitated movement restrictions, extortion, torture and sexual abuse by all parties,” UNHCR says.
Those fleeing the conflict include families who were former IDPs but returned in 2014 and 2015 as part of return and reintegration programs, the agency added.
The US has ramped up airstrikes against Al-Shabaab and ISIS militants in Somalia conducting at least 9 strikes this month alone. In the latest strike November 21, the US Africa Command said it killed 100 Al-Shabaab fighters 125 miles northwest of the capital of Mogadishu.