No Denying the Need, and the Danger : Somalia’s civil war is proving even bloodier than first feared

The ouster of brutal strongman Mohammed Siad Barre was expected to pave the way for democracy in Somalia, on the Horn of Africa. The then-president fled factional fighting nearly a year ago, but the death toll has continued to grow in a civil war that most of the world has forgotten.

As many as 14,000 Somalis have been killed since fierce fighting resumed last November in Mogadishu, the capital.

More than 27,000--including women, children and old people who could not flee the bullets--have been wounded in recent months, according to estimates from two American human rights groups, Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.

The new figures nearly triple earlier estimates provided by the few courageous international relief workers who have braved the carnage.

The young warriors fighting for control of Somalia are well-armed with automatic weapons, rocket launchers and other potent legacies of the tug-of-war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The end of the Cold War ended superpower competition for control of the strategic Horn of Africa region, but by that time the warring factions were heavily armed.

More Somalis are expected to die unless a cease-fire--agreed to, in principle only, last month after U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali met with the factions--can somehow become a reality. In the absence of peace, the United Nations must keep up the pressure.

A U.N. team is in Somalia this week quietly talking to both sides, but there is no plan to send peacekeeping forces.

The primary focus of the mission is to provide humanitarian assistance before famine and starvation claim more victims.

Children are particularly at risk from the famine, and from the cholera, hepatitis and meningitis epidemics that may occur if sanitation facilities are not restored before the rainy season.

There is no denying the need, but there is also no denying the danger to relief teams.

Neither International Red Cross nor U.N. credentials have provided immunity. The driver of a car with a U.N. flag was killed last week. A U.N. ship was fired on earlier this month when it tried to dock in Mogadishu. A U.N. doctor was killed two months ago. A Red Cross relief worker was slain in December. Yet despite the deaths, relief efforts continue.

The United Nations wants to do more to ease the suffering. Certainly, more food, medical supplies and other help are needed. But the world body must also redouble its efforts to secure a lasting peace.