Somalia:About 36,000 Somalis have fled Mogadishu after weekend fighting, the worst in months, between Ethiopian troops backing the interim government and Islamist-led rebels, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Most of the displaced headed for the town of Afgooye, 30km (18 miles) to the west, which is already struggling to cope with 100,000 people who left the capital earlier this year, it said.
Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said: "After a weekend of violence in Mogadishu there has been another wave of displacement from the capital, with about 36,000 more Somalis fleeing from their homes."
Aid workers described the fighting as "the worst in months", but the situation appeared to have calmed down since, she told a news briefing in Geneva.
Many people leaving the capital with their household goods piled on trucks, buses and donkey carts had expressed fear that the violence could escalate into major battles in the city.
"They said that insurgents had begun attacking police stations and military bases in broad daylight," Ms Pagonis said.
The fragile Somali government, which has UN backing, has been shaken by an insurgency of Iraq-style roadside bombings, assassinations and suicide attacks since it routed a hardline Islamist movement in January with the help of Ethiopian tanks and warplanes.
An estimated 400,000 Somalis fled Mogadishu by May, of whom about 125,000 later returned to the coastal city. However, renewed violence sparked a new wave of departures in June, with an estimated 90,000 people fleeing, according to the UNHCR.
Meanwhile the crew of a foreign cargo ship seized by Somali pirates overpowered their hijackers yesterday and retook control of the latest vessel to run into trouble in some of the world's most dangerous waters.
The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said the North Korean ship had been hijacked late on Monday or early yesterday near Mogadishu.
"I hear the crew on the ship overpowered the gunmen. The crew were 22 while the gunmen were eight," Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya-based maritime organisation, said. A police official said police boats had pursued the ship. Mr Mwangura identified it as North Korean, and said it was possibly involved in a business dispute. - (Reuters)