The medical aid groupDoctors Without Borders describes the humanitarian crisis in Somalia ascatastrophic. And it says conditions in the country are getting worse, asinternational assistance plummets due to insecurity and the targeting of aidworkers.

Nicolas de Torrente, executive director ofDoctors Without Borders-USA, says, "Every time that we think it can't get muchworse, it does. And at this point, we feel that we've reached really a new lowand that we're no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, but the disaster isreally happening now. We've seen an increasingly deteriorating situation,particularly over the last 18 months, which is really a turning point."

Itwas then, he says, that there was an "internationalization" of the conflict,with other countries getting more involved politically and militarily. "Thathas led to an escalation and intensification of the conflict," he says, "withviolence perpetrated against civilians by all sides involved. You can onlyconclude that the situation really has become catastrophic for the Somalipopulation."

Children are very much affected by the conflict,especially children who've left Mogadishu and are living in the Afgooye area.Dr. Greg Elder, deputy operations manager for Somalia for Doctors WithoutBorders, says many are being treated for malnutrition.

"Thenumbers are quite frightening. We've got nearly 3,000 children in the nutritionprogram at the moment in the Afgooye corridor. And those numbers don't appearovernight. We're seeing 500 new admissions every week," he says.

Dr. Elder says Somali families face difficultchoices as a result of food shortages.

"Theysell everything that they have to try to buy extra food. Then they drop out theexpensive food items, that are usually the most nutritious. Finally, they startto ration what they do have. They go from three meals a day to one meal a dayand then one meal every two days. And finally they're in the very difficultsituation of having to decide which members of the family are expendable," hesays.

Eldersays Somalis are trapped in a corridor of internally displaced persons betweenMogadishu and Afgooye, which he calls a "corridor of misery, where they have avery, very poor access to food. Where they have poor access to water. "

Hesays water must be trucked in on a daily basis to help over 300,000 people inthe region survive. Poor sanitation and shelter only make matters worse,including medical conditions.

"Weare seeing cholera. We will see respiratory tract infections in the coming months.And the mortality rate will be catastrophic for that population," he says.

Thenumber of internally displaced persons (IDPs) continues to grow due toinsecurity in Mogadishu. Many civilians are being treated for gunshot wounds orinjuries caused by bombs. Elder describes it as "a disproportionate number ofcivilians caught in the crossfire."