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GENEVA, (insidesomalia.org) - The humanitarian situation in Somalia is worsening alarmingly, with many families facing life-threatening shortages of food and water in some areas, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.
It also voiced concern at the high number of casualties from fighting in Mogadishu, noting more than 600 "war-wounded" had been treated in the capital's two main hospitals this year.
Large numbers of destitute families staying in drought-hit regions after fleeing Mogadishu over the past year have to survive on less than one meal a day and spend more of their meagre income to buy drinking water, the agency said.
"In recent weeks, the humanitarian situation in Somalia has continued to deteriorate alarmingly," ICRC spokeswoman Anna Schaaf told a news briefing in Geneva.
Shortages of food and water have become "life-threatening in the regions of Mudug, Galgadud, Nugaal and Bakool"; the ICRC said in a statement, referring mainly to areas in central Somalia as well as Bakool along the Ethiopian border.
Pastures have become barren in many places and herders are losing cattle too weak to reach scarce water points, according to the agency, which has stepped up its operations since January in the lawless Horn of Africa country.
Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian military backers are battling an insurgency in Mogadishu led by remnants of a hardline Islamist group they drove out of the city more than year ago in a lightning offensive.
The conflict has been intensified by recent "waves of heavy fighting", not only in Mogadishu but also in other parts of Somalia, according to the humanitarian agency. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Editing by Sam Cage and Ralph Boulton) (for full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
Source: Reuters
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