Amisom spokesperson Maj. Barigye Ba-Hoku told Daily Monitor on phone from Mogadishu that the attackers hit the Outpatient department run by the Ugandan peacekeepers, with a mortar.Kampala
One Ugandan soldier was among several Somalis killed in the attack by insurgents on the Amisom camp on Monday in Mogadishu. Amisom spokesperson Maj. Barigye Ba-Hoku told Daily Monitor on phone from Mogadishu that the attackers hit the Outpatient department run by the Ugandan peacekeepers, with a mortar.
He said several Ugandan peacekeepers sustained minor injuries in the attack. “There is a soldier who died and others sustained minor injuries, but they are back on duty,” Maj. Barigye said.
Uganda and Burundi have contributed at least 5,000 peacekeeping troops to Somalia to support the beleaguered government of President Sherif Ahmed Sharif. Uganda alone has at least 3,200 soldiers serving in the war torn Horn of Africa country.Maj. Ba-Hoku said they had not ascertained the number of dead civilians, saying the relatives of the dead picked bodies before they were counted. The African Union base in Somalia has always been targeted by the Al Shabaab.In September last year, the insurgents attacked the base by planting explosives on two vehicles with United Nations insignia which they exploded inside the base killing at least 17 peacekeepers including the Burundian deputy head of mission. Eleven of those killed were Burundian and the rest Ugandans. The Ugandan peacekeepers’ medical unit is open to Somalis on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. But Maj. Barigye told Daily Monitor recently that Somali militants are against the offering of these medical services to Somalis. “They think treating these people makes us popular among the Somali community,” he said in an interview with Daily Monitor. The Islamist fundamentalists have consistently attacked the peacekeepers, who they describe as an occupational force.
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