AU Peacekeepers Accused of Civilian Killings In Somalia

Published on Monday 2nd February 2009

African peacekeepers serving in the Somali capital Mogadishu have been accused of fatally shooting civilians by a local government official, Radio Garowe reports.

Mr. Abdifatah Shaweye, Mogadishu's deputy mayor, told reporters Monday that African Union peacekeepers, known as AMISOM, opened gunfire indiscriminately after being targeted with a roadside bomb earlier during the day.

"I saw more than 20 dead bodies, all of them civilians who were riding on four passenger buses at the time of the explosion," Mr. Shaweye told a Mogadishu-based radio station.

But AMISOM spokesman Maj. Bahoku Barigye denied the charges, saying: "None of our soldiers were hurt in the explosion, which killed three civilians. None of our soldiers opened fire."

An eyewitness on Maka al Mukarama Road in Mogadishu reported seeing three dead civilians, but other witnesses reported a higher death toll.

"A bus carrying civilians was caught in the crossfire for sure," the witness told Radio Garowe, adding that wounded persons were transported by a new ambulance service to nearby hospitals.

The roadside explosion marks the first attack in Mogadishu targeting AMISOM peacekeepers since Islamist politician Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was elected Somali president over the weekend.

Islamist hardliners, namely Al Shabaab and the Eritrea-based ARS faction, have refused to recognize Sheikh Sharif's presidency, labeling him a puppet of the West.

Mogadishu has been relatively quiet in recent days, with local reporting a break from the daily shootings and explosions that were normal when Ethiopian troops were present.