AMISOM admits civilian deaths in Somalia

African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) acknowledged for the first time on Friday it was responsible for civilian deaths in the Somali port town of Marka last month.
African Union Special Representative for Somalia (SRCC) and Head of AMISOM Mamadou Sidikou said in a Press Conference held in Nairobi that the peacekeepers had killed seven civilians on the 31st of July.
On that evening, AMISOM’s Ugandan troops raided a house where a wedding ceremony was going on and killed the men from the same family. The incident came after the peacekeepers convoy was attacked with a landmine in a neighbourhood.
‘’We regret these deaths. I would like to offer sincere and profound condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and indeed to the people and the Federal Government of Somalia.’’
Mr Sidikou added that three AMISOM personnel were indicted and awaited to face the justice as the investigation process goes on.
AMISOM’s statement comes one week after a leading Human Rights Organisation (HRW) called for investigations on the killings of the family, warning the peacekeepers of killing civilians.
Ever since the incident, Somalia’s Federal government remained silent leading to many ordinary Somalis to question the role of the government once it failed to protect the legal rights of its own citizens.
Horseed Media