UNNITED NATIONS, April 20: United Nations agencies said on Friday their efforts to help affected population in Somalia are thwarted by the worsening security situation despite their eagerness to help those displaced by violence in the capital Mogadishu.

“We have heard the appeal of Somali civil society to the humanitarian community for more help and we continue to respond, as far as we are able, with supplies and technical support,” said, Christian Balslev-Olesen, Somalia representative for the UN Children’s Fund .“But our access is limited,” he added. “And so we reiterate our call to all parties involved in the conflict to do everything within their power to allow us to reach those who need our assistance the most.”

Since the end of last year, violence in the capital has increased since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), backed by Ethiopian forces, dislodged the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) from Mogadishu and much of the rest of the country.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 213,000 people have fled fighting in the capital thus far, while Unicef reports that hospitals are overflowing with casualties and health clinics are facing a rising number of cases of acute water diarrhoea.

The agency began distributing supplies on Thursday to 40,000 displaced people who have fled Mogadishu since February and are currently residing in the small town of Afgooye, 30 kilometers west of the capital, UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.

There was also an explosion on Thursday on the main road linking Afgooye – which shelters one fifth of the 213,000 Somalis who are believed to have fled the capital – and Mogadishu, isolating the small town.