Somalia crisis 'Africa's worst'

The "very dire" humanitarian crisis in Somalia is the worst in Africa for many years, the aid agency Oxfam has warned.
Many of its hundreds of thousands of internally-displaced people, the world's largest such concentration, have no food or shelter, said Oxfam. Civilians have been fleeing an intense see-sawing battle between hardline Islamist guerrillas and forces loyal to the UN-backed government in Mogadishu. The exodus continued from the capital on Tuesday amid the crackle of gunfire. It is estimated at least one million people have fled their homes amid almost perpetual civilconflict in the failed Horn of Africa nation since the collapse of its central government in 1991. Hassan Noor, Oxfam's humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that circumstances in Mogadishu were "very dire".
"I have seen the situation in Darfur, northern Uganda, some parts of Congo, but what is actually happening now in Somalia is indeed the worst kind of humanitarian situation in Africa in many years," he said. "The situation is really appalling," he added. "There are hundreds of children all over the area with tubes on their faces and [saline] drips on their hands. Some of them are actually unconscious and suffering from all sorts of diseases, mainly acute water diarrhoea and cholera." ..more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8078594.stm