by Ali Musa Abdi
MOGADISHU (AFP) - An ambush on African Union peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu left 12 civilians dead, according to a new toll Thursday, heightening fears among residents that their presence would only provoke more violence.
As more Ugandan soldiers arrived at the Somali capital's heavily-fortified airport Thursday, their contingent's spokesman Paddy Ankunda told AFP that two peacekeepers were slightly injured in Wednesday's gunfight following an ambush at a notorious junction near the airport.
"We have started investigations to find out what happened and who were the gunmen," Ankunda said, adding that the convoy had been heading to the Global Hotel, the AU civilian command centre, in northern Mogadishu.
Islamists, driven out of Mogadishu by the interim government and Ethiopian forces in December, have vowed to fight foreign forces and are believed to be behind almost daily attacks in the city.
"These threats do not worry us because that is why we are here on the peace mission. If Mogadishu was safe, we would not be here," Ankunda said.
Initial reports said two civilians had died in crossfire Wednesday but residents on Thursday reported 10 more people killed, including four in a nearby hotel restaurant.
"One of them was eating, two were employees, and one was a man who had taken shelter in the hotel," said Amina Mohamen, one of the owners.
Nearby Medina hospital said it had received 17 wounded following the ambush, and 95 from attacks in the past few days.
Meanwhile, two more AU planes carrying some 200 Ugandans touched down at Mogadishu International Airport, as the build-up continued of a planned multinational force of some 8,000 troops to bolster the government against insurgents.
"We already have more than 1,000 troops in Somalia since we started to deploy here," Ankunda said. "We are trying to settle in as we carry out small operations," he said.
Uganda is sending some 1,500 troops in all, but residents on the streets of Mogadishu Thursday said they were increasingly sceptical about what the peacekeepers would achieve.
"Peacekeepers will contribute nothing to peace. I support the government, but I do know how it can bring peace. They may end up killing more and losing more," Abbas Mukhta Ibrahim, a tailor, said.
"The government and its rivals are making Mogadishu a battleground and the poor civilians are the ones who will suffer most," said Daudi Askar, a former government employee.
The African Union has vowed to continue deploying peacekeepers in Somalia, brushing aside threats from an Islamist commander and attacks on its first deployments.
As well as Wednesday's ambush, a first contingent of 370 Ugandan troops were met Tuesday at the airport with mortar fire.
The latest call to attack the peacekeepers came from Islamist commander Aden Hashi Ayro in a taped audio message broadcast by Mogadishu-based Koran Radio Wednesday night.
"It is time for the Somali youth to fight the occupation by Ethiopia and others," said Ayro, who described himself as the commander of the Islamic Courts movement.
The dominant Hawiye clan in the Somali capital on Wednesday poured scorn on the Ugandan deployment.
Clan rivalries have scuppered the formation of an effective central Somali government in the past 16 years.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, who belongs to the Darod clan, told parliament last week that a national reconciliation conference would start mid-April.
But in a statement, the Hawiye urged foreign backers to withold financial support from the planned conference until Yusuf holds peace talks with the Islamists.
The AU mission is the first international peacekeeping venture since an ill-fated UN-backed, US-led peace mission launched in the early 1990s.
So far, the AU has managed to raise only around half of the required 8,000 troops.
Source: AFP, Mar 08, 2007