Somalis express outrage over recent AMISOM killings

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU Somalia (AA) - Somalis have expressed their outrage after the killing at least 11 people, allegedly by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) within one week.

Social media in the country have been awash with graphic photos from separate incidents in the Lower Shabelle region, in southern Somalia, involving AMISOM.

“We are very disappointed, condemn and outraged these incidents by AMISOM. We need our government to stop these killings,” Abdulatif Abdirahman, a Mogadishu local, told Anadolu Angency .

“We created a hashtag ‘hold AMISOM accountable’ after these killings,” he said

On Sunday night, five people, including a mother and her three children, were killed allegedly after an AMISOM vehicle rammed a shelter near a coastal town of Merca, the capital of the Lower Shabelle region.

Abdirahman Hasan Hussein, Merca deputy commissioner, confirmed the incident to Anadolu Agency.

“I can confirm that five people of the same family, including a mother and her three children, were killed by an AMISOM vehicle,” he said.

On Saturday night, six people were killed on the outskirts of the town of Qoryooley, in the same region, after an AMISOM patrol hit a minibus carrying civilians with a mortar.

AMISOM spokesman Joe Kibet, told Anadolu Agency over the phone that UN mission forces had indeed killed six civilians outside Qoryooley.

“There was a night curfew in the region because of the [al-Qaeda affiliate] al-Shabaab movement. Our forces stopped the car but the driver didn’t stop. Then our forces fired at the vehicle. The AMISOM base in Qoryooley was also under attack that night,” Kibet said.

He refused to comment Sunday night's incident that took place outside Merca.

"AMISOM's investigating the allegations against its troops & gathering further facts & information before releasing a comprehensive statement," said the UN mission on Twitter.