Ambulance service: 4,200 Somalis killed in 2 years | Antiwar Newswire: "Maj. Barigye Bahoku, the spokesman for the 7,000-strong African Union force in Mogadishu, said he could not comment on the ambulance service report because he had not read it.
Human rights groups and Mogadishu residents have repeatedly accused the African Union of indiscriminately targeting populated areas of the city with artillery fire after insurgents fire mortars toward AU troops. Bakara is the most popular market.
The executive director of CIVIC, the U.S.-based Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, said civilians bear the brunt of war in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. But she said Somalia may be the most dangerous because neither side abides by obligations under international law to avoid civilian casualties, as U.S. and international forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are required to.
'Al-Shabab hides out in civilian markets, blasts the government or AMISOM (African Union) bases and then runs, so by the time AMISOM fires back, they're already gone,' Sarah Holewinski said. 'When AMISOM does fire back, they do so indiscriminately and often kill civilians. This despite rhetoric from AMISOM that they abide by international laws and never want to kill civilians.'
Holewinski said insurgents in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan all put civilians in harm's way.
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Human rights groups and Mogadishu residents have repeatedly accused the African Union of indiscriminately targeting populated areas of the city with artillery fire after insurgents fire mortars toward AU troops. Bakara is the most popular market.
The executive director of CIVIC, the U.S.-based Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, said civilians bear the brunt of war in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. But she said Somalia may be the most dangerous because neither side abides by obligations under international law to avoid civilian casualties, as U.S. and international forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are required to.
'Al-Shabab hides out in civilian markets, blasts the government or AMISOM (African Union) bases and then runs, so by the time AMISOM fires back, they're already gone,' Sarah Holewinski said. 'When AMISOM does fire back, they do so indiscriminately and often kill civilians. This despite rhetoric from AMISOM that they abide by international laws and never want to kill civilians.'
Holewinski said insurgents in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan all put civilians in harm's way.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
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