Saturday, February 24, 2007
NAIROBI (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross have pleaded with warring groups in Somalia to protect civilians as thousands fled escalating violence in the capital Mogadishu
A day after Ethiopian troops exchanged heavy weapons fire with gunmen in the Somali capital, killing at least 10 people, the Geneva-based ICRC called for swift compliance with the rules of combat.
"The ICRC is deeply concerned about the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting and calls on all warring parties to comply with the rules of international humanitarian law," it said in a statement.
Somali civilians are increasingly becoming caught in crossfire between insurgents and Ethiopia-backed government forces.
The ICRC also called on the Somali foes to ensure the wounded get medical access and that health facilities are spared.
Since the start of the year, more than 430 people wounded in the conflict have been admitted to two of the city's three hospitals, the ICRC said. Witnesses say the figure could be much higher.
The group, one of the few aid agencies operating in Somalia, also voiced concern about the fate of prisoners taken by both sides.
The call to protect civilians came after some of the heaviest fighting in Mogadishu this week since late December when the interim Somali government and its Ethiopian allies drove a hardline Islamist movement out of the capital and much of south and central Somalia.
The escalation in violence capped weeks of low-level insurgency that has so far claimed dozens of lives and displaced several thousand people.
Source: AFP, Feb 24, 2007