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June 4 (Bloomberg) — Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in a decade due to an escalating conflict and food and water shortages caused by a severe drought and rising commodity prices, aid workers said.

Clashes between Islamists and forces loyal to the country’s interim government have intensified since the start of the year, and food and livestock shortages, inadequate rainfall and dry pasture land have made hundreds of thousands of Somalis dependent on aid, the International Committee of the Red Cross said today.

Somalia has been without a functioning central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been displaced within the country by fighting between the Islamists and government forces, which are supported by Ethiopian soldiers. High food prices and inflation are worsening the crisis, the Red Cross said.

“Amidst the ongoing armed conflict and other violence, finding water and food for the family is a daily challenge,” Pascal Hundt, head of the ICRC’s delegation for Somalia, said today by e-mail. “Shelter and medical attention are also increasingly difficult to obtain. We are witnessing the worst tragedy of the past decade in Somalia.”

The organization will distribute food rations to 435,000 people in coming weeks. It appealed for international donors to help fund the effort.

The United Nations said last month that more than 2.6 million Somalis — 35 percent of the population — need food aid. Some 900,000 people have been displaced from the capital, Mogadishu, scene of some of the fiercest fighting.

The majority of displaced Somalis are living in camps with no access to medical facilities, the ICRC said.

“The most severely affected areas are in central Somalia, which has suffered from poor rainfall and low crop yields for over two years,” the agency said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robin Stringer in New York at rstringer@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 4, 2008 16:30 EDT

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