Mogadishu fighting uproots 12,000 in past week: UN

GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 12,000 people have fled fighting in Mogadishu in the past week and a humanitarian crisis there is intensifying with aid workers unable to access the needy, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.

Dozens of civilians have been killed by mortar rounds and gunfire in the Somali capital, where Ethiopian and Somali troops are battling militant Islamic insurgents, said William Spindler of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"There has been a steady outflow from Mogadishu," he told a news conference on Friday, estimating 57,000 people have been uprooted by the conflict since the beginning of February.

Those fleeing the capital have headed south to Lower Shabelle or northeast to Galkayo, a difficult journey where they risk being robbed, raped, abducted or killed, Spindler said.

Many of the displaced are hungry, suffer from health problems such as diarrhoea, and face harassment from bandits.

"Those arriving are often destitute and dependent on other people to support them," he said. UNHCR has distributed basic relief items such as plastic sheets to Galkayo.

(For more information about emergency relief visit Reuters AlertNet www.alertnet.org email: alertnet@reuters.com; +44 207 542 5791)