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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Jul 22 2010 - 10:08:36 EDT
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/07/20107228558228826.html
AU warns of Somalia civilian deaths
UPDATED ON:
Thursday, July 22, 2010
14:46 Mecca time, 11:46 GMT
The African Union has warned in an internal report that it risks losing
public support in Somalia if it continues to kill large numbers of
civilians.
About 5,000 AU peacekeepers are stationed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu,
protecting the weak Transitional Federal Government.
The AU's report concluded that the peacekeepers have indiscriminately
shelled civilian areas, causing large numbers of casualties.
The organisation called for "urgent attention" to the problem of civilian
casualties.
The AU's assessment was conducted between April and June of this year, and
first reported on Wednesday by The Associated Press news agency.
Major Barigye Bahoku, a spokesman for the AU mission, said that the
al-Shabab group, which is fighting to topple the government, is to blame for
the deaths of civilians.
"Too many civilians are caught in the crossfire, but the responsibility for
this lies on the destructive extremists who unleash reckless attacks on
government and [AU] forces," he said.
'Indiscriminate attacks'
Paramedics and police officials in Mogadishu, however, have said some of the
shelling is carried out by AU troops.
Human Rights Watch reported in April that AU peacekeepers routinely respond
to Al-Shabab attacks by launching indiscriminate attacks into civilian
areas.
"AU forces have fired mortar shells into densely populated areas without
taking precautions to discriminate between civilians and military targets,"
the group said. "Such attacks... violate the laws of war."
Afyare Abdi Elmi, a Somalia expert at Qatar University, said the AU
assessment was accurate, and that the shelling was beginning to harm
perceptions of the AU force.
"At least in the beginning, the AU was not having problems the Ethiopians
had. They were not perceived as an occupying force," Elmi said.
"But now with indiscriminate shelling ... this is beyond the limit. It is
hurting their perception."
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 to depose the government. Their
presence was deeply unpopular, and rights groups say they routinely killed
civilians.
Al-Shabab killed 76 people in two bombings in Uganda earlier this month, and
said the attack was revenge for civilian casualties in Somalia. Uganda
contributes troops to the AU peacekeeping force.
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