UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) – The United Nations on Tuesday reported that an estimated 63,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Somalia in just the first few weeks of this year due to ongoing fighting.

Some 14,000 people were uprooted in the capital, Mogadishu, where clashes last week between Government forces and Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam militants left at least 10 people dead, including children.

Thousands have fled their homes and an estimated 11,900 have temporarily settled around Belet Weyne in what the agency described as “appalling conditions.”

“As the struggle for control of the territory continues, insecurity makes it extremely difficult for aid workers to access the area and deliver vital assistance,” UNHCR’s Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

According to the agency, there are some 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in Somalia, and more than 560,000 people living as refugees in neighboring countries, mainly in Kenya, Yemen, and Ethopia.