A/HRC/12/44 page 9 29. The civilian population has been heavily affected by the fighting. A very large number of people have been displaced; approximately 350 people have been killed and at least 1,500 injured in Mogadishu since 7 May 2009. A major concern during this period has been the drawing of the fighting into areas populated or frequented by civilians, and indiscriminate mortars shelling by all parties, causing casualties, property damage and destruction in civilian areas. 30. The recruitment, training and use of children in the fighting, especially by armed groups, have caused consternation among parents of young children. Many have chosen to move to other areas or to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. 31. While aid agencies have increased their efforts to provide assistance to the displaced, they have been constrained by security conditions. Recently, Al-Shabaab announced a ban on activities by UNDP, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security and the United Nations Political Office for Somalia in south-central Somalia. The expulsion of the Department of Safety and Security could affect the work of humanitarian agencies in these areas. Although violence against humanitarian personnel and assets was lower in the first half of 2009 than during the same period in 2008, workers continue to be killed, abducted or subjected to violence. For example, since January 2009, seven aid workers have been killed and seven abducted. A total of 16 aid workers are still in captivity, some since 2008. They include three abducted in Kenya in July 2009 and taken to Somalia. 32. Despite their control over large parts of south-central Somalia, the popularity of Al-Shabaab and allied forces appears to have been weakened owing to their imposition of a hard-line interpretation of sharia law, together with summary executions, floggings and mutilations. There are reports of popular resistance to them from some areas in the south-central region. In Baidoa, for example, hundreds of protestors took to the streets on 26 March 2009 to protest against a ban on the sale of the narcotic khat. A moderate Islamist group, Ahlu Sunnah, was formed in some areas to fight Al-Shabaab. The destruction of graves of prominent religious clerics by Al-Shabaab partly provoked this strong response. In June 2009, Ahlu Sunnah signed an agreement with the Transitional Federal Government to be integrated into the peace process, indicating the possibility that other Islamist groups might follow suit. 33. AMISOM troops guard the port and key Government installations in Mogadishu. While their number has reached 5,000 with the arrival of another battalion of troops from Burundi, it still remains well below the target of 8,000. The troops have been frequently targeted by armed opposition groups; at least five peacekeepers were killed between 6 May and 11 July 2009. AMISOM troops have reportedly retaliated in response to some attacks, and there were allegations that civilians were being killed or injured as a result. In June 2009, the African Union Peace and Security Council called for a review of the AMISOM mandate with a view to strengthening it. 34. Instances of violence, include a massive car bomb explosion outside a hotel in Belet Weyne, which killed the Minister for Security, Omar Hashi Aden, and a former ambassador to Ethiopia, community leaders and clan elders, as well as many others, on 19 June 2009. In the incident on 11 July, three African Union peacekeepers died and another one was injured after a mortar struck the presidential palace in Mogadishu. On 12 July, three Government soldiers were reportedly killed in northern Mogadishu, when Government