Somali Soldiers Kill 7 Civilians

Somali troops shot and killed seven civilians in southern Mogadishu, accusing them of being Islamic insurgents who recently launched a series of hit-and-run raids on government targets, witnesses said Friday.

In a separate incident on Thursday, three gunmen shot a Somali aid worker of the U.N. World Food Program, a witness said, the latest in a string of attacks on humanitarian workers.

Witness Liban Ahmed said government soldiers killed at least seven civilians and wounded four during an operation in Daynile neighborhood in the capital.

Government army commander Dahir Ali Farey insisted the dead were Islamist fighters and had been shot just before they attacked government troops.

But Asha Sheikh, another resident, said “there was no confrontation apart from the troops shooting at the civilians.”

Islamist fighters had briefly captured over a dozen strategic towns in the last few months and on Thursday, attacked a military base near the seat of the country’s Parliament.

Source African Press Agency

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