MOGADISHU, Somalia Sep 18 (Garowe Online) - Al Shabaab insurgents in Somalia have warned the Republic of Djibouti not to send peacekeepers to the war-torn Horn of Africa country, Radio Garowe reports.

Sheikh Ali "Dheere" Mohamud, the Al Shabaab spokesman, told reporters in Mogadishu on Friday that Al Shabaab will fight any soldier from Djibouti that arrives in Somalia.

"We warn the people of Djibouti not to send their boys to Somalia and to join the enemy that is slaughtering Somalis," Sheikh Ali Dheere said.

He specifically warned Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Ghelle, saying: "He [Djiboutian President] used to say he is distressed by the suffering in Somalia, but now it is clear that he was lying and is on the side of the enemy."

Earlier this month, Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mohamud Ali Yusuf declared that 500 soldiers from Djibouti would join the 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM) currently deployed in Mogadishu to back the fragile interim government.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for Thursday's deadly suicide car bomb attacks on the main base for AMISOM peacekeepers in Mogadishu, where at least 17 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi were killed among 21 people, according to an AMISOM press release.

At least 8 Somali civilians were killed in subsequent bouts of fighting, including artillery shells that hit the main Bakara Market.

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Source: Garowe Online