Monday, April 10, 2006
Associated Press
BAIDOA,
Somalia (AP) — Somali gunmen ambushed a U.N. food delivery at a
roadblock in central Somalia, sparking off a firefight that left two
people dead and nine injured, an official said Monday.
The
attack on the World Food Program convoy took place just outside Baidoa,
140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Mogadishu, and the two dead and
four of the wounded belonged to the Somali militia hired by the program
to protect the shipment, said Mohamed Ibrahim Habsadeh, a Somali
politician who escorted the convoy.
Among
the wounded was Ibrahim Abdullahi Osman, a lawmaker in a Baidoa-based
transitional government trying to take power in Somalia. He had tried
to negotiate with the gunmen to allow the food shipment to pass
unhindered, but instead they insisted on a portion of the food,
Habsadeh said.
“We
understand that the gunmen have no jobs, nor have they been encamped
for rehabilitation, therefore they are hungry, but still we can’t
accept them when they try to use force to take the food aid intended
for their parents and the poor,” Habsadeh said.
The
72 trucks were loaded with maize, beans, cooking oil and porridge and
were intended for the drought-stricken people of Bay and Bakol regions.
The convoy returned to Baidoa with the shipment intact.
Peter
Smerdon, spokesman for the World Food Program, said his office had
received reports that indicated the convoy had passed through the
checkpoint before the shooting erupted.
“We
are very much saddened by any new loss of life in Somalia, particularly
associated with the delivery of humanitarian aid,” Smerdon said. “We’ve
noted substantial efforts by authorities in Baidoa to protect
humanitarian workers and ensure that aid reaches those who need it.”
Security
in central Somalia has worsened after militiamen, who had reported to
Baidoa for retraining in return for aid, abandoned the rehabilitation
program because it failed to deliver.
“The
international community and the new government of Somalia have both
pledged support for the … camp, but it has not yet been
materialized,” said Adan Soransor, a local security officer.
Source: AP , April 09, 2006
