( CNN ) -- More than 230 civilians have died in fighting over the past two weeks between Somali transitional government forces and Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia 's capital of Mogadishu , the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday . At least 400 people have been wounded and 23,000 displaced in the latest violence , the agency reported . So far this year , more than 200,000 civilians are believed to have fled their homes in the capital , it said . `` People who have been able to reach northern Somalia and neighbouring countries are mostly arriving on foot and by small buses and traveling without shelter . They tell our staff that the streets of Mogadishu are completely deserted and that people are too afraid to leave their houses . In these dangerous and difficult conditions , aid distributions are becoming rare and those who venture out are risking their lives , '' the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said . The agency said people are leaving the capital for other parts of Somalia , such as Puntland , or to the neighboring countries of Ethiopia and Kenya , and across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen . Somalia generates the largest number of refugees in the world after Afghanistan and Iraq , the agency said . At the end of August , there were more than 614,000 Somali refugees and over 1.4 million people displaced within the country . `` The collapse of the state , spiraling violence and anarchy , compounded by poverty , has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and unacceptable suffering of the civilian population , '' the agency said . African Union troops from other countries have been helping the transitional government fight the Islamist insurgents , who are trying to topple the government . In fact , Uganda recently said it is deploying an additional 750 peacekeeping troops to Mogadishu . The increase is a fulfillment of the commitment pledged by the government of Uganda at the African Union Summit in July . The African Union agreed to send an additional 2,000 troops total to Mogadishu . Djibouti and Guinea are also expected to send their battalions . When all parties fully deploy the pledged troops , the number of AU troops will increase up to 7,000 , said Fred Opolot , Ugandan government spokesman . `` The increase in the troops comes as a response from the government of Uganda and AU to the recent attacks in Kampala carried out by Al-Shabaab , '' said Opolot , referring to the bomb attacks on World Cup fans in Uganda in July , which left as many as 79 people dead .
Troops and militants have been fighting in Mogadishu . The unrest has displaced tens of thousands of people . Somalis are going to Puntland , Kenya , Ethiopia and Yemen to escape the violence .