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Somalia
Mortar fire at parliament kills eight
Article published on the 2009-04-25 Latest update 2009-04-25 16:25 TU
Somalia residents carry a wounded man to hospital after a mortar attack in the capital on Saturday.
(Photo: Reuters)
In the Somali capital Mogadishu, eight people died when mortar bombs were fired at the parliament on Saturday, police said.
The missiles failed to hit the building and exploded in the surrounding residential area. Somali police said the shells fell to the side, killing one policeman and a witness said four children were also killed.
One woman died in the attack but no members of parliament were hurt and a Somali lawmaker, Mohamed Ali Dhere, said they left the building minutes before the mortars were fired.
The attack came a day after the Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys ruled out talks with the government unless African Union troops withdrew from the country.
There are currently 4,300 troops from Uganda and Burundi in Somalia after Ethiopian troops pulled out last January.
"They have nothing to do here," he said, "we see them as a barrier to peace in our this country".
Overnight pirates seized a German-owned cargo ship in the eastern part of the Gulf of Aden. The Maltese-flagged Patriot has 17 crew members on board but Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said it seemed they were unhurt.
Nato on Friday said the vessels from its Standing Maritime Group One would extend their stay in the region, cancelling trips to Singapore and Australia. Its ships have been escorting merchant vessels in the region's waters.
Italy's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it would send a special envoy to Somalia to seek the release of a tug boat that was captured two weeks ago.
The government in Somalia's Puntland province said last weekend that the boat had been seized by local security forces because of illegal offshore activities.
 International donors pledge $250 million for Somalia |
Production http://www.france24.com/en/20090423-brussels-un-somalia-donors-conference-security-forces-stability-nations-piracy
