Mogadishu, Somalia photo courtesy of Jens Honoré

October 11, 2011: Fierce clashes between Somalian government troops and the Al-Shabab group have forced SOS Children’s Villages to remove to safety all SOS children, mothers, staff, hospital personnel, and patients for the first time since 1985.

Sadly, SOS staff member Ali Shabye, an SOS hospital laundry worker since 1994, was killed when artillery shells hit the SOS hospital and pharmacy on October 10.

In Somalia since 1985, when the organization established its first Children’s Village in the capital, Mogadishu, SOS is no stranger to military strife and sudden evacuations. Over the course of twenty six years, violent conflicts have compelled SOS to temporarily close one facility or another and move children and staff to safety.

In mid-August SOS had already transported the families at SOS-Mogadishu to safe houses seven miles away because of fighting that damaged one family home. The security staff and gardener who remained on the premises at that time were evacuated as of Monday.

SOS has provided consistent care and protection to children and families in Mogadishu at times when other international aid groups left the country due to instability. But the heavy artillery fire that has threatened the safety of SOS children and families over the past few days marks the first time that SOS has had to abandon all of its projects in Mogadishu.

Reportedly the Children’s Village was taken over by Al-Shabab but is now occupied by government troops.

From Humanitarian Zone to Battlefield

On Monday SOS hospital staff started to move the very sick to safety, but the situation forced most to scatter. SOS decided to evacuate all remaining hospital personnel and patients to keep them safe from further attacks. “The hospital cannot function at the moment,” SOS-Somalia director Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim told Reuters. “This zone has become a battlefield.”

Ibrahim is concerned that both the SOS Children's Village and the hospital will be seriously damaged if both sides continue the shelling. Unconfirmed reports state that Al-Shabab has retreated from the area, but the situation is unclear. “It is not acceptable for anyone to occupy a Children’s Village or hospital. It is a crime against humanity to do so,” said Ibrahim. 

SOS’s Ongoing Relief Efforts Unaffected

SOS is one of the few relief groups permitted to provide aid to thousands of famine-affected families in the Al-Shabab-controlled area of the capital. SOS’s ongoing emergency relief operations at the Badbado refugee camp have not been affected by the current violence, but on-site staff remain highly vigilant. On October 4 a suicide bomb killed more than 80 people in the city. Many of the victims were students waiting for exam results outside the Ministry of Education. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the bomb and warned of further attacks.

SOS Children’s Villages will only return children and staff to home facilities when it is completely safe to do so.

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