Somali insurgents kill 11 African peacekeepers

February 22, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) — Some 11 Burundian troops were killed in the Somali capital during a suicide car-bomb attack carried by the Islamist hardline militia AL-Shebab against the bases of the African Union peacekeepers today.

That attack occurred on Sunday when one suicide bomber detonated a vest filled with explosive inside the camp of the peacekeeping force while another drove a primed car into the base, said Al-Shebab spokesperson, Sheikh Muktar Robow Abu Mansur, who claimed the responsibility of the attack.

“Holy fighters carried out suicide attacks …. against the enemy of Allah who are the crusade invaders in our country and we have inflicted heavy losses on them,” ” Abu Mansour said.

Other 15 soldiers were wounded, in the deadliest attack against the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) since their deployment two years ago.

However, the AMISON disputed the claim of Al-Shebab insisting the insurgents fired mortars at the compound housing the Burundian contingent of the African troops.

Eyewitness said they saw a vehicle forcibly entering the site before a huge explosion was heard from the compound where black smoke was also seen pillowing from it.

The terrorist attack was condemned by the African Union Chairperson Jean Ping describing it as “criminal and cowardly attacks.”

He also added that the attack was carried out “by elements bent on undermining the ongoing efforts to promote peace and security in Somalia, and whose only aim is to bring about more violence and destruction, incomplete disregard of the aspirations of their people and the interest of their country”.

(ST)