Somalia descends into fresh hell

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled a capital racked again by fierce fighting, writes Steve Bloomfield.

The bullet pierced Fartun Ali's right eye and lodged itself in her brain behind the left eye. The 16-year-old schoolgirl had dreamed of becoming a teacher. Now she is merely left with the hope of one day being able to see again.

Standing amid a collection of shelters fashioned from twigs, rusting corrugated iron and scraps of plastic in Afgoye, about 20 kilometres west of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, Fartun's mother, Fatuma, surveyed the camp they now call home. "Maybe she should not see how we live right now," Fatuma said.

Less than a month ago, Fatuma and Fartun were living in Mogadishu. Now, after some of the worst fighting the battle-scarred city has experienced in 16 years, they are living under a tree on the side of a road. More...