Wednesday 3 December 2008

AU soldier killed in Somalia

Mogadishu - A soldier serving with African Union forces in Somalia was killed in fighting with Islamist insurgents in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, a military spokesperson said Wednesday.The Burundi soldier died of injuries sustained in the clash late on Tuesday near his contingent's southern Mogadishu base, Burundi army spokesperson Clement Cinen said."The fighting in the former military academy last night, where our forces are based, left one of our soldiers injured but unfortunately he died later in hospital," Cinen said."There were no other casualties in that fighting."Islamist insurgents often target the AU peacekeeping force as well as Ethiopian backed government forces who regained control of much of the country from the militants in early 2007.
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Burundi has a total of 1 700 soldiers in Somalia with the 3 400-strong AU force, which is expected to eventually number 8 000.Former African leaders in the AU's Panel of the Wise urged the United Nations to form a stabilisation force for Somalia after Ethiopia announced last week it would withdraw its troops by the end of the year, sparking fears of a security vacuum.
- Sapa-AFP

2 comments:

Parton Words said...

Samira. Fascinating reading your stuff. Your country has always fasincated me. Tell me please....are you still based in Somalia ?

Samira Hassan said...

Yeah, I do live in Somalia but in Somaliland particularly, it was independent from Somalia for nearly 20yrs but not internationally recognized by the international community.

I hope that you do read more, I do have another blog on www.takingitglobal.org under the name samiraisir....I hope that you enjoy reading it.