The people of Somalia are facing an increasing lack of security and a humanitarian situation which is worsening daily, a United Nations official said Friday.
"The situation is worsening and everyday violence and human rights abuses in Somalia continue to displace thousands of civilians," Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva, DPA reported.
Edwards noted that the previous day over two dozen people were called in the capital Mogadishu.
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday appealed for fighters to cease shelling a surgical centre, after at least one patient at the hospital was killed in the violence.
UNHCR said that despite the deteriorating situation, less refugees are fleeing the country than at this time last year, most likely because it is becoming more dangerous to leave. Militant groups patrol the roads and the smugglers who get people out charge high prices.
Somalia, widely regarded as a failed state, has been embroiled in conflict since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Siad Barre.
There are believed to be some 1.4 million people displaced within the war-torn state and another 600,000 Somali refugees in neighboring countries. Since a new insurgency began in 2007, over 20,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
Security experts warn the country is becoming a haven for international terrorist groups.