A top United Nations official says the world body is "not backing away"from Somalia following raids by insurgents on U.N. offices in thecountry.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator John Holmes saidTuesday that the U.N. hopes to continue operations in Somalia despitedifficulties.
Al-Shabab insurgents raided U.N. compounds in theSomali towns of Baidoa and Wajid Monday. Holmes confirmed U.N.operations in Baidoa will be suspended until looted equipment can bereplaced.
Fighting between the al-Qaida-linked insurgents andSomali government forces has made it increasingly difficult todistribute food and supplies to more than three million hungry Somalis.
Earlier Tuesday, a U.N. refugee agency spokesman appealed toSomalia's warring parties to respect basic humanitarian principles andto guarantee the safety of aid workers.
The agency says morethan 223,000 people have left Somalia's capital since since fightingbetween Islamist militants and the government intensified in May.
Spokesman Ron Redmond said 20,000 Somali civilians have fled Mogadishu in the last two weeks alone.
Heexpressed concern about the huge numbers of displaced people seekingrefuge at makeshift sites in the Afgooye corridor, southwest of thecapital. He said the site lacks adequate shelter, sanitationfacilities and clean drinking water.
The main insurgentgroups, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, launched an offensive against thegovernment in Mogadishu on May 7. Fighting since then has killedhundreds of people.
On Monday, al-Shabab vowed to shut down the Somali operations of three U.N. agencies.
Somalia has endured nearly two decades of unrest and instability since the fall of the last stable government in 1991.