Somali rebels kill four AU peacekeepers, Somali gov't appeals for help to fight militants

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Four Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday when al Shabaab Islamist rebels fired mortars at the presidential palace, an African Union spokesman said.Uganda and Burundi have deployed more than 6,300 troops to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation to guard the port and airport and shield President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from attackLast week, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group vowed to intensify its holy war against the U.N.-backed government which it denounces as a puppet of the West."We lost 4 Ugandan soldiers in mortar fire on Villa Somalia this morning," AU spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said, referring to the presidential palace. Another eight Ugandan soldiers were wounded, he said.
Ahmed said his government needed more international assistance against the militants who launched their first attack on foreign soil in July, killing 79 people in the Ugandan capital Kampala in twin bomb attacks.
"It is quite impractical to expect Somalia alone to contain the evil al Qaeda-al Shabaab alliance, as Somalia is emerging from 20 years of destruction and a chaotic political environment," Ahmed said in a statement.
Somali gov't appeals for help to fight militants
MOGADISHU, Somalia AP— Somalia's government is appealing for more help in its fight against powerful militants who have recently intensified their attacks.President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said Monday it was unrealistic to expect the forces of an ill-equipped government to battle the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab.Ahmed compared al-Shabab's attack on a Mogadishu hotel that killed more than 30 people last week to the violence against governments in Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.He said the world must give Somalia's violence the same priority accorded to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington considers to be a major threat.Al-Shabab carried out twin bombings in Uganda during the World Cup final, killing 76 people.