SOMALIA: Women And Children Highly Affected By Conflict

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling on all parties to the conflict in Mogadishu, Somali to take all measures to minimize civilian casualties and to respect the protected status of medical facilities.

A very high proportion of civilians, among them large numbers of women and young children, are bearing the brunt of ongoing extreme warfare in Mogadishu, with many suffering catastrophic injuries, a report by MSF has revealed.

Medical data gathered at the hospital in the Daynile neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, reveal an alarming pattern over the first seven months of this year.

Of 2,854 patients treated by MSF medical teams at Daynile Hospital, 48 percent suffered war-related injuries. In the 84-bed hospital, 64 percent of the war-wounded patients sustained serious blast injuries, largely consistent with continuous intensive mortar fire in the city residential areas. Notably, 38 percent of the people with war-related injuries were women and children under 14 years of age.

"As the fighting continues, more and more civilians are being admitted to Daynile Hospital with horrible injuries," said Dr. Naidu Uday Raj, MSF medical coordinator for Somalia.

"People are arriving at the hospital with serious blast wounds and high-velocity gunshot injuries, including severe fractures. Many people require surgery. Women and young children continue to bear the brunt of the violence," he said.

The latest illustration of the how violence permeates daily life for civilians living in Mogadishu occurred on July 27 when 45 people were brought to Daynile Hospital following heavy shelling between armed opposition groups and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the African Union Peacekeeping Force (AMISOM).

Over half of the patients, 26 people, were women and children under 14.

To date, 11,888 people have been treated at Daynile Hospital with more than 50 percent of patients suffering from war-related injuries.