Somalis accuse peacekeepers of killing civilians

Somali officials and residents have accused African Union forces of killing 11 people in two separate incidents.

Ibrahim Aden Najah, governor of the Lower Shabelle region, told Voice of America an armored African Union (AU) vehicle crashed into some homes late Sunday after a land mine blast hit the mission’s convoy in Marka town. Residents confirmed the vehicle killed a mother and four children.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said in a statement yesterday its troops had just responded to an ambush by al-Shabaab after the forces hit an improvised explosive device.

“Our troops fought off the attackers and managed to arrest one of the fighters,” the statement said. “By the time AMISOM left the area, no civilian casualty had occurred.”

In a separate incident on Saturday night, AU forces opened fire on a minibus in the town of Qoryooley in lower Shabelle. Mohamed Hassan, a traditional elder, confirmed that all six passengers died. AMISOM said it has an agreement for a 7 p.m. curfew with the local administration in a bid to reduce terror attacks against civilians. The mission said it ordered the bus to stop when it approached the checkpoint, but the troops began to shoot when the driver reversed the vehicle in haste.

More than 20,000 African troops are in Somalia to combat al-Shabaab, the Somali-born extremist group whose insurgency began in 2006. The terror group has staged several deadly attacks on civilians and also on the mission’s bases. In October, AMISOM expressed regret when one of its soldiers accidentally shot and killed a driver and injured four others during a security check in the country’s capital, Mogadishu. In April, the AU force also killed four civilians traveling in a car because the driver defied orders to stop, AMISOM spokesman Col. Joe Kibet said at the time. Residents of the area protested and denounced the killings.

The African Union mission said it will continue to work with the federal government to further investigate the latest two incidents.

“AMISOM operates under the international human rights law and takes civilian casualties, by its troops, seriously,” the statement said.