Thousands of Somali children need urgent medical aid

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Somalia needs urgent medical aid to save thousands of malnourished children and wounded adults who are trapped in one of the most violent, lawless countries in the world, an international aid group said Thursday.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, treated more than 2,500 children suffering from acute malnutrition in the towns around Mogadishu, the country's shattered capital, in May alone. More than 2,000 people have been treated for traumatic injuries since the beginning of the year.

"Somalia is no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, the disaster is happening now," said Bruno Jochum, the group's director of operations. "The situation is tragic and we are unable to provide the aid necessary to prevent further deterioration of the situation," he added.

Somalis have few options for escape, as the main border crossings are closed.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and turned on each other. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Somalia since 2007, caught in vicious disputes over ancient clan loyalties, religion and government.

Somalia's shaky transitional administration was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has failed to assert real control. After Islamic militants seized control of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, the government called in troops from Ethiopia in December 2006 to oust them.

An insurgency started soon afterward, and remains a potent and disruptive force. Rebels set land mines and attack police posts and the Ethiopian troops respond with deadly force, witnesses say.

The humanitarian crisis is aggravated by high global food prices and drought.

Medecins Sans Frontieres released a short video Thursday from one of its clinics around Mogadishu, showing skeletal children who appeared on the verge of death. Hundreds of women and babies were shown lining up outside the clinic seeking help.

Despite the urgent need for help in Somalia, aid work there is fraught with danger. Medecins Sans Frontieres pulled its international staff out of Somalia after three of its workers were killed in a land mine explosion this year.

On Thursday, the humanitarian agency called on all sides in the conflict to "guarantee safe and unhindered access" to aid workers.

Islamic insurgents vowed to target foreign aid workers after a U.S. missile strike killed the head of the Islamist al-Shabab militia, Aden Hashi Ayro, and 24 other people in May. Ayro was reputed to be the top al Qaeda commander in Somalia and was linked to a string of attacks on foreign aid workers and journalists.

Kidnappings and piracy also are on the rise in Somalia, where hijackers demand -- and often receive -- huge ransoms. The 1,880-mile-long (3,000-kilometer-long) coast, the longest in Africa, is overrun with pirates.

On Monday, a German couple and their son were kidnapped along with a French yacht captain off the Gulf of Aden. They were brought to a mountainous area near Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northern Somalia, where clan elders were trying to negotiate their release Thursday.

The pirates were demanding $1 million ransom. The condition of the captives was not immediately clear. A clan elder who is helping negotiate said the boy is suffering from a fever and needs medical help.

On Saturday, a Somali employee of the U.N. refugee agency was kidnapped outside Mogadishu.

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