180 families displaced from Qoryoley, where conflict continues, have settled in a new IDP camp in Sarkusta village on the outskirts of Mogadishu.
The IDPs, who are mostly women and children, have fled from more than 10 villages across Qoryoley district, where the Somali national armed forces and African Union peacekeepers have recently captured territory from al-Shabaab after three days of fighting.
There are a number of pregnant women among the displaced, and some women who have given birth since arriving in the new camp.
Hawo Mohamed Hassan fled with her three small children after a mortar destroyed their home in Qoryolay, a strategic town located about 100 kilometres south of Mogadishu. “My other three older children are with their father back in Qoryoley. We couldn’t all come here,” Hassan told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
Another mother of six children, Molow Hassan, said it took her four days to reach Sarkusta village on foot, as there was no transport available for the people fleeing. Some of the displaced families, including disabled people, have used donkeys to reach the outskirts of Mogadishu.
