From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Feb 04 2009 - 08:53:25 EST
Somalia' UIC vows war against AU forces
Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:50:33 GMT
Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts has vowed to wage war against AU
peacekeepers over the killing of civilians in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The leader of the UIC's military wing, al-Shabaab, on Tuesday urged his
fighters to attack the peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) for
'deliberately' killing 40 civilians on Saturday, the Press TV correspondent
reported.
"I call on the Somali people and the insurgents to attack the African Union
troops, who massacred our people," Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur told
reporters in the southern Somali city of Baidoa.
UIC spokesman Abdirahim Issa Adow said the peacekeepers have violated their
mandate, adding that "more brutal attacks on civilians will not be
tolerated."
AU peacekeepers on Monday for the second time in a week opened fire on
civilians after coming under attack by insurgents.
However, AMISOM spokesman Major Barigiye Bohuku refuted the claims, saying
that the forces only responded to insurgents attacks.
Uganda, whose troops make up 3,500 of the AMISOM forces, on Tuesday asked
its military commander in Somalia, Maj. Francis Okello, to investigate
claims that Ugandan troops were involved in the shootout that killed at
least 40 civilians.
Ugandan Defense Minister Cryspus Kiyonga told reporters in Kampala that an
official report would be released in due course after they finish the
investigation.
AMISOM troops, comprised of Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, are deployed in
the war-torn country as part of the internationally backed efforts to
stabilize the Horn of African country which has been in turmoil for an
entire generation.
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