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Fatal consequences for civil population

© Reuters/Pool

A Somali woman walks past destroyed Islamic Courts vehicles in Baidoa, Somalia, December 27, 2006. Ethiopian warplanes attacked two Islamist-held airfields in Somalia on December 25, including in the capital Mogadishu, in the most dramatic strikes yet of a war threatening to engulf the Horn of Africa.

"We follow the situation by the hour. We fear that thousands of people will flee from the war to neighbouring countries. Therefore we are searching for relief items on the international market in order to be prepared for an immediate operation,” says Henrik Stubkjær, DanChurchAid Secretary General. The organisation also supports Somali refugees in Kenya.

Risk of total collapse in Somalia

"USA and the Middle East are right now engaged in a nerve-racking power struggle in Somalia. It may result in war between Somalia and Ethiopia with fatal consequences for the civil population and chaos on the Horn of Africa,” says Lars Jørgensen , DanChurchAid Country Coordinator for Horn of Africa.

The clash between the superpower USA and the Muslim world happens right now in Somalia by proxy: Ethiopian troops supported by the USA are confronting Islamic troops supported by Middle East governments. The true victims are the deployed African soldiers and – as usual – the civil population.

“There is a risk of total collapse in Somalia resulting in new waves of refugees and a major conflict on Horn of Africa,” elaborates Lars Jørgensen.

The war increases the emergency situation

”The Somalians live in deep poverty - many families actually below the breadline. This year, Somalia has experienced both drought and floods, and between 1.0 and 1.5 million people are depending on food aid – before the war,” says Lars Jørgensen, Country Coordinator for Horn of Africa, in an interview to Danish Broadcast Corporation (ithe nterview is in Danish).

Somalia fights wars of border and religion

For a long time, Ethiopia has more or less openly supported Somalia’s weak government, which has recently been retreating vis-à-vis the Islamic movement of the Council of Islamic Courts that is in control of still larger areas and has introduced Sharia law and order.

News agencies write that a civil war in Somalia may spread to large parts of Horn of Africa.