The top United Nations envoy for Somalia has accused the extremists attacking the capital Mogadishu of being directly responsible for the current suffering and misery of tens of thousands of Somali civilians, urging immediate humanitarian aid, Xinhua reported.
  
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, UN special representative for Somalia, said the extremists who are fighting the Somali government have shown lack of regard for their innocent Muslim brothers and sisters.
  
"The Somali extremists and their foreign allies started this latest fighting which has led to the deaths and displacement of ordinary Somalis, many of whom only recently returned home hoping to restart their lives," said Ould-Abdallah in a statement received here on Friday.
  
"In their attempt to seize power, these extremists have clearly shown their lack of regard for their innocent Moslem brothers and sisters," the UN envoys said.
  
He noted the Somali people needed urgent help, urging the international community to step in and take immediate action.
  
"I would urge concerned Governments to move quickly to provide direct bilateral assistance to the Somali Government," he said.
  
"Once again the lives of civilians have been turned upside down by fighters who have no interest in helping them. Civilians need basic assistance such as clean water, medicine, blankets and shelter and they need it now," Ould-Abdallah said.
  
Early this week, the Somali government said it had repulsed a military attack by foreign-backed insurgents trying to overrun the presidential compound in Mogadishu and oust President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
  
"The Somali people remain confident that they will finally see an end to the unnecessary violence of the past two decades," Ould- Abdallah said.
  
"Unfortunately the extremists, who are themselves divided, are trying to drag the country back to the bloodshed of the early 1990s. The international community has made it very clear that this is completely unacceptable," the UN envoy asserted.
  
The development came as Islamist fighters in Mogadishu were advancing to the edge of the presidential palace in some of the fiercest clashes in months.
  
Pro-government forces have been locked in battle with radical guerrillas and 25,000 civilians have reportedly fled.
  
Sources say the government's leadership is crumbling and many of its troops have defected to the rebels.
  
Some political observers believe the 18-year conflict in Somalia has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions more, defied 15 attempts to establish central rule and created one of the world's worst aid crises.
  
Attacks on relief workers, extortion and regular clashes have hampered groups trying to work there.
  
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991 after President Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in a coup d'état.
  
Many diplomats see President Sheikh Shari Sheikh Ahmed's new administration as one of the latest attempts at restoring peace to Somalia.