Oct 6, 2008, 12:29 GMT
Nairobi - A coalition of 52 aid agencies Monday said they were extremely concerned about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in conflict-stricken Somalia and accused the international community of failing Somali civilians.
Almost daily battles have blighted the Horn of Africa nation since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to kick out the Islamist regime and put the transitional federal government back in power.
Islamist insurgents have since fought back, but civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting.
Almost 10,000 are believed to have died since the insurgency began in early 2007.
The coalition of agencies - which include Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision - said that almost half of Somalia's population, or 3.25 million people, now need emergency aid.
This is a 77 per cent increase since the beginning of 2008 and is largely due to conflict, drought and rising food prices.
Government and moderate opposition figures have signed a peace agreement, but it has had no effect on the day-to-day violence as insurgent group al-Shabaab has rejected the deal.
Fighting has only intensified, with shelling in the capital Mogadishu forcing 37,000 civilians to flee in the last few weeks, the aid agencies said.
More than 1 million Somalis are now displaced.
Aid workers are also finding it more difficult to deliver assistance as they increasingly become targets for murder and kidnap, the agencies said.
Some 24 aid workers have been killed this year along while the whereabouts of another ten is unknown, they said.
The agencies called on all parties to allow 'unhindered access' and also demanded that the international community make Somali civilians a top priority.
The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
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