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Kampala, May 22, 2010 -A roadside bomb killed a Ugandan soldier
yesterday morning and injured two others while on foot-patrol in the
Somali Capital, Mogadishu.
The spokesperson of African Union Mission in Somalia, Maj. Barigye
Ba-Hoku, told Daily Monitor on phone from Mogadishu that the
peacekeepers were patrolling the city.
“It was an improvised explosive device that exploded and killed one of
our soldiers who were patrolling in Afixione,” he said.
Maj. Ba-Hoku, however, dismissed reports that Islamist fundamentalists
had killed the peacekeeper in the mortar-attack on ships allegedly
carrying AMISOM weaponry at Mogadishu Seaport.
Barbaric act
“That is rubbish being fronted by the propagandists. This was a minor
incident of an IED. We have no ships to carry weapons,” he said.
He described the attack as “a barbaric act” by elements opposed to
having a peaceful Somalia.
At least 40 Ugandan peacekeepers have died in Somalia since 2007 when
Uganda and Burundi deployed four battalions under AMISOM to support the
beleaguered transitional government of Somalia.
When asked whether the dead had been identified, Maj. Ba-hoku said they
would first inform the family of the victim before giving his identity.
Each family of the soldiers killed on duty in Somalia is supposed to
receive $50,000 (about Shs100m) as compensation but some families have
not received their payments due to delays in the release of money by the
African Union.
Source: Daily Monitor, Friday, May 21, 2010
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