UNHCR alarmed by Somali violence

GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- More than 230 civilians were killed and another 400 wounded in the ongoing conflict between al-Shabaab and forces in Somalia, a U.N. report said.

Al-Shabaab, a Somali affiliate of al-Qaida, in August declared war on an African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu.

The Somali government controls only a small portion of the capital and the country hasn't had a stable government in more than a decade.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in a Tuesday report said it was "alarmed" by the level of violence in Somalia.

The refugee agency said that those who have fled Mogadishu describe the capital as "completely deserted," noting people are selling their last possessions to secure safe passage from the area.

Nearly 68,000 people have fled the country this year and another 1.4 million are internally displaced, the agency said.

"The collapse of the state, spiraling violence and anarchy, compounded by poverty, has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and unacceptable suffering of the civilian population," the agency warned.

The African Union has around 6,000 troops in Mogadishu and the United States, the Arab League, France and the European Union pledged support for the Somali government.

A mortar attack last week blamed on al-Shabaab killed four Ugandan soldiers with the AU peacekeeping force in Mogadishu. Four lawmakers were killed in an attack on a hotel in August.