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| Africa Horn |
| Al Shabaab leader urges attacks on peacekeepers |
| 2010-07-06 |
| The leader of Somalia's hardline Shebab militia has called for attacks on African Union peacekeeping forces after recent clashes with his fighters. Mohamed Abdi Godane accused Ugandan and Burundian troops in the AU force of killing civilians during clashes in the capital Mogadishu. He urged "the Somali people to unite to fight against the enemy of Allah," in an audio message sent late on Sunday to local media and obtained by AFP. "We know that the people in Mogadishu were honoured with two previous victories. They won the war against the Americans and the Ethiopians, and the fight against AMISOM will be the final victory by God's will," he added. The US withdrew its troops from Somalia after an ill-fated mission in the early 1990s, while Ethiopia pulled out in early 2009 following a two-year invasion. The AU troops, also known as AMISON, were then deployed. "My message to the people of Uganda and Burundi is that you will be the targets of retaliation for the massacre of women, children and elderly Somalis in Mogadishu by your forces," said the leader of the al Qaeda-linked militia. "You will be held responsible for the killings your ignorant leaders and your soldiers are committing in Somalia," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |