The United Nations refugee agency says the number of Somalis displaced by
fighting over the past month has risen to 117,000.
The agency says
battles between Islamist insurgents and pro-government fighters forced thousands
of residents in the capital, Mogadishu, to flee their homes Saturday and
Sunday.
The U.N. says the sides are fighting with no regard to
Mogadishu's civilian population, in what it calls a clear violation of
international humanitarian and human rights principles.
The agency says
armed groups have temporarily occupied at least 34 schools this year, and raided
or shelled a half-dozen more.
Mogadishu has endured almost daily battles
since militant Islamists launched an offensive against government positions May
7th.
Neither side has been able to assert full control over the
city.
By most estimates, more than 200 people
have been killed in the fighting and more than 700 others wounded.
The
Islamist groups, al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam, want to establish a strict Islamic
state in Somalia.
The United States fears that if the government falls,
Somalia could turn into a haven for terrorists, like Afghanistan was under the
Taliban.