Violence worries Somali aid group

An official with the Somali Red Crescent Society said he was "extremely worried" about the situation there after mortar shells struck a hospital in Mogadishu. The International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the few humanitarian groups working in Somalia, said last week it halted distribution of food aid because deliveries to central and southern Somalia were blocked. Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, president of the Somali Red Crescent Society, said that although nobody was injured, a mortar attack on a hospital in northern Mogadishu highlighted the ongoing risks in the country. "The situation is really desperate when people cannot even feel safe in a hospital," he said in a statement. The ICRC and Somali Red Crescent Society reminded all parties to the conflict in Somalia of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect medical facilities. Militants with al-Shabaab said they killed 10 soldiers from Ethiopia during attacks northern Somalia, the BBC reports. Al-Shabaab regrouped after pulling out of parts of Mogadishu. It imposed limits on humanitarian groups operating in the country, leaving the ICRC as one of the few organizations still working there.