On the Ground - Human Misery in Mogadishu

Women stand in line with pots to collect rice at Badbaado IDP camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 11, 2011. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Woman carrying baby asleep going to get food at Badbaado IDP camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 11, 2011. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

A very sick child lies covered with flies at a Mogadishu IDP camp. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Boy slurps a few drops of water from faucet at Badbaado IDP camp, Mogadishu, Somalia, August 11, 2011. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Somalis queueing outside a temporary feeding center run by an Islamic charitable group at a Mogadishu IDP camp. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

A woman arrives at a feeding center carrying her malnourished child. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Children arriving with their belongings at a newly-established IDP camp in Mogadishu after a long trek from south-central Somalia. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Boy with pot of gruel camp at Badbaado IDP camp in Mogadishu, Somalia. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, 12 August 2011. (VOA - G. Joselow)

Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, 12 August 2011. ( VOA - G. Joselow)

Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, 12 August 2011. (VOA - G. Joselow)

Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, 12 August 2011. (VOA - G. Joselow)

Gunman walks through line of women waiting for ration at Badbaado IDP camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 11, 2011. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Soldiers patrol Bakara Market's deserted, rubble-strewn streets, Mogadishu. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Two pro-government militiamen pass a bullet-pocked building in the deserted Bakara Market. (VOA - P. Heinlein)

Goats walk down street in front of bullet-scarred building in Bakara Market, Mogadishu, Somalia. (VOA. P. Heinlein)

The ruins of Mogadishu's Roman Catholic cathedral are home to dozens of tent-dwelling families seeking refuge from famine in southern Somalia. (VOA - P. Heinlein)