AU troops killed, injured in Somalia

  1. Posted on Thursday 8 January 2009 - 09:35
    deodatus
    deofuga@yahoo.com
    Deodatus Mfugale, AfricaNews reporter in Dar es Sallam, Tanzania
    A roadside bomb blast has killed one African Union peacekeeper and injured another in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia. The AU force now stands at 3,600,has been frequently targeted by Islamist insurgents with the latest attack bringing the number of AU troops killed in Somalia to nine in two years.
    AU peacekeepers
    According to the spokesman for the AU force the incident took place on the outskirts of Mogadishu, when a convoy of peacekeepers was hit by an explosive device. The incident is likely to increase pressure on the UN to deploy peacekeepers in the war-torn country after the AU threatened to withdraw its force from Somalia unless it was beefed up.

    The call to revamp the peacekeeping force in Somalia follows the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces which have been propping up the interim government since December 2006. The Ethiopian army comprising 3,000 soldiers started withdrawing from Somali soil this month, a move which analysts say prompted the resignation of Somali interim government President Abdallah Yusuf Ahmed.

    However it has been clear for a long time that Ethiopia’s presence has been the bone of contention between the interim government and the Islamist insurgents and thus the departure of its army would clear the way for the conclusion of peace negotiations between the warring parties.

    But even with the departure of the Ethiopians, the insurgents are still bent on overthrowing the ailing government which can only show its presence in Mogadishu, the capital and Baidoa, the seat of the parliament.

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