Somalia Peacekeepers Accused of Firing Into Civilian Areas | |
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VoA News Nairobi 22 October 2009 |
At least 20 people were killed and as many as 70 wounded in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, during what witnesses say was one of the worst fighting in recent months. African Union peacekeepers are being increasingly blamed for causing deaths and injuries among civilians.
Even the most battle-hardened residents describe the early morning fighting between African Union peacekeepers and al-Shabab militants as one of the most frightening battles they have ever seen.
One eyewitness, Mohamed Ali, tells VOA he was about to open his shop inside the city's sprawling Bakara open-air market, when artillery shells began raining down all around him.
Ali says storekeepers and shoppers began running in panic when the shelling began. He says some people were killed and others were wounded while trying to take cover.
The latest clash began as the president of Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government, Sharif Sheik Ahmed, was preparing to fly to Uganda to attend an African Union summit on refugees and internally displaced people. Local journalists say al-Shabab militants lobbed mortars at the airport, prompting peacekeepers of the African Union mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, to fire back.
Medical workers report most of the dead and wounded were inside Bakara market. They say two other areas in the capital controlled by al-Shabab were also shelled.
According to Somali journalists and residents, AMISOM troops frequently target Bakara market and other al-Shabab strongholds in the capital. Militants have long used these densely-populated areas to launch mortar attacks against AMISOM positions, which include the airport, seaport, and the presidential palace.
Bakara storekeeper Ali says peacekeepers often respond with indiscriminate fire, causing many civilian casualties.
He says Islamist insurgents cause problems by attacking the peacekeepers, but AMISOM's harsh response is doing far more harm than good. Ali warns AMISOM the people may no longer tolerate its presence in Somalia if it continues shelling residential areas.
AMISOM has repeatedly denied such accusations. In an interview with VOA Somali Service, a spokesman for the peacekeepers suggested that al-Shabab had staged the deadly shelling in Bakara market to fan anti-AMISOM sentiments.
Since the first 1,500 peacekeepers from Uganda arrived in Mogadishu more than two years ago, AMISOM troops have been relentlessly attacked by Islamist insurgents seeking to overthrow the Somali government. In February, 11 peacekeepers from Burundi were killed by a suicide car bomber. Another 17 peacekeepers, including the Burundian deputy force commander, were killed last month in twin suicide car bombings at the AMISOM base.
Both attacks have been claimed by al-Shabab, a group the United States and other Western countries believe is al-Qaida's proxy in the Horn of Africa.
AMISOM now has 5,000 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, but the mission is still short of the mandated troop strength of 8,000.
WOTN Editor: It is unlikely that any will be able to provide conclusive evidence of who launched the mortars into the Bakara market. It is a common tactic by Al-Qaeda to attack their own civilian base of support to increase recruitment to their terrorists ranks, but most militaries in the world are less apprehensive, less cautious about returning fire, including heavy weapons on the source of fire, even if that area fired from is a concentration of civilians.
In fact, it is unlikely that evidence will even be sought in this case. Few, if any, that could conclusively prove it, exist in Mogadishu. Even fewer care enough to try. Both sides will deny they fired into Bakara.
Civilians around the world should be grateful that US and Coalition Forces are much more selective in choosing targets that present the least chance of "collateral damage." Our Troops put their own lives at danger to prevent civilian casualties, even in situations where the enemy is firing from such positions.
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