AU forces kill 10 civilians in Marka town after bomb attack
Muqdisho,21july,2015-Soldiers from the African Union forces in Somalia have ‘randomly’ shot dead at least 10 civilians in the coastal Somali town of Marka Tuesday, the second such ‘cold blood’ shootings after a bomb attack targeting their convoy, residents, officials told HOL.
Witnesses in the town told HOL that after the explosion AU soldiers have walked into residential areas, dragged elderly and young men out of houses and shot them at a close range before dumping their bodies along nearby streets of the town.
The incident is a major test for the relations between African Union forces and Somali government which until now remains tightlipped about the civilian deaths which has the potential to inflame anti foreign forces sentiment in the town which has seen a relative stability since the ouster of Al-Shabab fighters by Somali troops backed by AU forces.
The latest attack comes one week after the African Union soldiers have shot dead two other civilians in the coastal Somali town of Marka after unidentified men lobbed a grenade at a passing convoy.
One resident Mohamud Abdi whose brother was killed soldiers mourned at his death, saying that forces are immune from the country’s legal processes and no one ever contacted family members to investigate the attack.
“We just collected bodies and buried them – we don’t have no government that can bring those brutal soldiers to justice.” He said sadly.
AU officials declined comment when contacted for comment on the incident which also follows previous incidents in which soldiers’ convoy overrun civilians crossing streets and sped away unstopped.
As residents buried their dead loved ones, Local elders in the town warned the repeated civilian killings would create mistrust and further strain relations between residents and AU forces, a scenario that may make it hard for forces to pacify the volatile Lower Shabelle region.
The region has seen heavy fighting between allied forces and Al-Shabab fighters over the last few months.
The Al-Qaeda linkedAl-Shabab group often uses such incidents as a war propaganda to draw support from locals to prop up its deadly guerilla war against AU forces in Somalia.
Source : HOL