From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Aug 14 2008 - 12:46:38 EDT
Ethiopian forces kill five civilians in Somali bus: witnesses
August 14, 2008
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Ethiopian forces accidentally killed five Somali
civilians and wounded seven others when they opened fire on a minibus
south of Mogadishu, witnesses and elders told AFP on Thursday.
The
Ethiopian soldiers had been attacked by Islamist insurgents moments
earlier and apparently mistook the minibus -- travelling south from
Mogadishu to Wanlaweyn -- as hostile, the witnesses said.
"They
were ambushed by insurgents hours before they opened fire on the bus.
The bodies of five civilians killed in the incident were brought to
Wanlaweyn," local elder Adan Nur Jisow said.
Witnesses said the driver survived but seven others were wounded."The
driver told us that the Ethiopian forces sprayed gunfire on the
minibus... It was dark and maybe they could not identify whether they
were insurgents or civilians," resident Mohamed Sheikh Yusuf said.
The
Ethiopian army invaded Somalia in late 2006 to rescue Somalia's
embattled transitional government and oust an Islamist militia which
controlled of large parts of the Horn of Africa country.
The
Islamists have since reverted to guerrilla warfare and have been
targeting Somali government forces, Ethiopian troops and African Union
peacekeepers almost daily.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the
brutal conflict. According to international rights groups and aid
organisations, at least 6,000 have died over the past year.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXDoO_OX26mUgGn1E1OP0Fs96RmQ
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