NAIROBI, Kenya - Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in a decade, and the situation is deteriorating, an international aid agency said Wednesday.
Worsening armed conflict, rising global prices of food and fuel and severe drought in central Somalia are key factors making the Horn of Africa nation's humanitarian crisis worse, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
"We are witnessing the worst tragedy of the past decade in Somalia," said Pascal Hundt, head of the International Red Cross' delegation for Somalia. "People are completely exhausted from the non-stop struggle to survive."
The most severely affected areas were in central Somalia, which has suffered poor rainfall and harvests for more than two years. The agency said food shortages in the area were severe and livestock, a major source of sustenance, were weakening as pasture land dries up.
On Tuesday, Somalis warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in their country and called for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, saying their departure would accelerate a political settlement of Somalia's 18-year conflict.
Members of the UN Security Council - visiting Djibouti to encourage Somalia's transitional government and an opposition alliance to hold direct peace talks - were meeting with Somalis from a spectrum of civil society: rights activists, small business owners, women, peace activists and representatives of clans and the Somali diaspora.
The Somalis urged the Security Council to encourage the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who have been in their country since 2006 to help government forces deal with an Islamic insurgency.
"The presence of Ethiopian troops is exacerbating the crisis, and their withdrawal will accelerate all inclusive political settlement," they said in a joint statement.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf says the Ethiopian force backing his fragile government would not leave until the fighting stops and a UN peacekeeping force is deployed.
Somalia has been in a state of anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and warlords turned on each other, sinking the poverty-stricken country of seven million people into chaos.
The shaky transitional government formed in 2004 called in troops from neighbouring Ethiopia in December 2006 to oust Islamic militants who had seized control of the capital, Mogadishu, and most of southern Somalia.
The Islamic insurgents, nonetheless, remain a potent and disruptive force in the country and a continuing threat to Yussuf's government, which is backed by both the European Union and United States.
Also on Tuesday, Ethiopia's top disaster response official said 4.5 million Ethiopians need emergency food aid, roughly a million more than a previous estimate. Ethiopia is struggling through a crisis brought on by drought and rising food prices.
The situation, however, is "under control," Simon Mechale told journalists, adding that Ethiopia's food shortage will be resolved within four months. He did not elaborate.
Simon also disputed UN estimates that show 126,000 Ethiopian children were suffering from severe malnutrition; he said the number is slightly more than half of that, or 75,000.
