SOMALIA: Fighting forces civilians to flee Kismayo IDP

NAIROBI, 21 August 2008 (IRIN) - Fighting between Islamic insurgents and forces of the local administration in Somalia's port city of Kismayo entered a second day on 21 August, displacing hundreds of families, with dozens killed, sources told IRIN. "Our estimate is that 3,000 families [18,000 people] were displaced by the fighting yesterday," Ali Bashi Abdullahi, the head of the Fanole Human Rights Organisation, said. The fighting, between the Al-Shabab group and the forces of the local administration, was reported to be spreading to other parts of the city from its initial concentration in the neighbourhoods of Fanole, Isku filan and Farjano, in the north and northeast of the city, according to Abdullahi. more http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79921