MOGADISHU/Nairobi - Some 90,000 people have returned to the bullet-scarred Somali capital Mogadishu, after nearly a month-long lull in heavy fighting, the United Nations said on Friday. “All reports of movement during the month of May have been of returns to Mogadishu. Information received indicates that approximately 90,000 people displaced by the recent conflict have so far gone back to the capital,” the UN’s humanitarian wing, OCHA, said in a statement. The OCHA statement also said an increase in piracy off Somali shores was hindering food distribution efforts to the displaced, as a ship chartered by the UN World Food Program had been hijacked.Most of the displaced settled in makeshift camps on the outskirts of the city, facing the spread of disease and a lack of adequate shelter.
The past month saw fewer clashes between government troops and militants.