Mogadishu – At least two Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers were killed and five others wounded on Thursday in a roadside bomb explosion in southern Mogadishu, witnesses said.
“A heavy explosion hit the Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers as they were inspecting suspected mines off Maka Al Mukarama road,” eyewitness Mohamed Farah said.
“I saw two dead soldiers and five others wounded. The soldiers then sealed off the area and civilian movement was restricted,” he added.
“One of the soldiers was inspecting the roadside with a stick when the explosion went off. He was torn to shreds and several other soldiers were wounded by the shrapnel,” said Ali Yare, another witness.
On Wednesday, three aid workers — a Somali and two Italians — were kidnapped by gunmen south of Mogadishu, the latest in a spate of attacks and kidnappings targeting humanitarian workers.
In an interview to Britain’s The Guardian published on Thursday, Eritrea-based Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys vowed to continue the armed struggle until Ethiopian Woyanne troops leave Somali territory.
Talks between the Islamist-dominated political opposition and the Western-backed transitional government were launched in Djibouti earlier this month, under the aegis of the United Nations. But Sheikh Aweys dismissed the UN as a partial mediator, leaving opposition ranks divided ahead of the resumption of talks later in May.
Source: AFP