Jan. 26 -- At least five civilians died in an explosion at an African Union clinic in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The Islamist al-Shabaab militia claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three Ugandan peacekeepers were wounded in last night’s blast, which occurred at Halane in the south of the city where the AU peacekeeping-mission’s main base is situated, spokesman Major Barigye Bahoku said in a phone interview today.

“An explosion took place at our base’s entrance near the outpatient department,” Bahoku said. “Three of our soldiers sustained minor injuries, while several other Somalis died or were wounded. I don’t know the exact figure, but it may be between five and seven.”

Al-Shabaab, one of the main Islamist rebel groups in Somalia, said “high-ranking” medical officers were killed in the blast.

“We have successfully implemented our mission inside the mercenary African troops” base, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, a spokesman for the militia, told reporters in Mogadishu on a teleconference late yesterday. “This was intended to retaliate against the mercenary soldiers for their indiscriminate shelling of Somali civilians and their residences.”

At least 63,000 people have fled their homes since the start of this year because of fighting and insecurity, the United Nations Refugee Agency said on Jan. 20. About 1.5 million are estimated to be internally displaced in the country, which the UN describes as “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.”

The AU peacekeeping mission has 5,250 peacekeepers in Somalia including 2,550 from Burundi and 2,700 from Uganda, according to its Web site.

Source: bloomberg

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