GENEVA — Some 258 civilians were killed in clashes between government troops and rebel militia in central Somalia last month, the UNHCR said Tuesday, making January the deadliest month since August.
"Violence in Somalia sharply escalated in January, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths and widespread destruction," said Andrej Mahecic, spokesman of the UN refugees agency.
"According to local sources, intense clashes between government forces and militia groups fighting for control of the conflict-torn central regions have left at least 258 civilians dead and another 253 wounded, which makes January the deadliest month since last August," he said.
The fighting displaced over 80,000 Somalis during the month, including 18,000 who fled their homes in the capital Mogadishu, the UNHCR said.
"So far, the deteriorating security conditions have made it hard, if not impossible, for humanitarian workers to access the needy population," said Mahecic.
According to the UN, Somalia is currently experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years of
almost uninterrupted civil strife and one of the world's worst ongoing humanitarian tragedies.
Last May, two extremist insurgent groups launched a military offensive in the capital and parts of central and southern Somalia in an attempt to topple Somalia's internationally backed president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Since then, the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels and Hezb al-Islam, another hardline Islamist militia, have kept up their attacks against government troops and the African Union peacekeepers.
More than 1.4 million people are displaced in Somalia, while another 560,000 Somalis have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, according to the UNHCR.
