Insurgents attack African Union troops in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Islamist insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital, triggering fierce clashes that killed a civilian and wounded five others, witnesses said on Monday.

The insurgents fired artillery into Mogadishu's southern K4 quarter where Ugandan troops from the AU peacekeeping force are based, drawing retaliatory fire, residents said.

"A man died and three others were wounded when an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) hit a house in K4 area," said one witness Amina Elmi. Several other residents said stray gunfire had wounded two further civilians.

The AU force in Somalia, AMISOM, has been in Mogadishu since March 2007 and currently numbers around 3,000 troops, from Uganda and Burundi.

Monday's violence comes the day after two AU peacekeepers from Burundi and three Somali civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Mogadishu as new troops were coming in from the airport.

The hardline Shebab militia declared in mid-September that Mogadishu's main airport was a tool of Ethiopia's "occupation" of Somalia and vowed to bring down any plane that tried to land there.

The Islamists have since fired several mortar shells at the airport, triggering retaliatory fire that has caused dozens of civilian deaths.

A Burundian soldier told AFP fresh troops from Burundi landed at the airport on Monday. This was the third batch since Saturday but the soldier refused to give the total number of new troops to have arrived in the past three days.

Aid groups have scaled down operations in Somalia because of growing insecurity largely blamed on Islamist militants who have waged a guerilla war since they were ousted last year by a joint Somali-Ethiopian offensive.

Somalia has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off bloodletting that has defied numerous bids to restore stability.

Source: AFP

Call for urgent action in Somalia

THE Asian Shipowners’ Forum (ASF) calls for urgent action to be taken to eradicate the piracy problem in the Gulf of Aden.

The call by the ASF echoed similar concerns of the international shipping community and the roundtable group of international shipowners’ associations to solve the piracy issue there.

The roundtable group consists of the International Chamber of Shipping/International Shipping Federation, Baltic and International Maritime Council, International Association of Independent Tanker Owners and International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners.

“Asian ships have been attacked and some were hijacked by the dangerous and heavily-armed pirates operating out from Somalia.

“Regrettably, huge ransoms had been paid by desperate and deeply distressed Asian shipowners to secure the urgent release of their ships and to protect the lives of their seafarers on board from harm by the pirates,” said ASF in a statement.

It urgently appealed to the United Nations, the International Maritime Organisation and all maritime nations to exercise strong political will to combat this problem.

“Where possible, governments are strongly urged to reinforce and strengthen the coalition naval and air forces based in the Middle East.

“The ASF strongly urges governments to increase the number of deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden.

“Governments are also to seek the renewal of UN Security Council resolution 1816 for a longer timeframe and beyond the deadline of Dec 2 to clarify the text on actions required to repress piracy,” said the statement.

The UN Security Council decided that the states cooperating with the Somalia transitional government will be allowed, for a period of six months, to enter the territorial waters of Somalia and use “all necessary means” to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea in a manner consistent with relevant provisions of international law.

The text was adopted with consent of Somalia, which lacks the capacity to interdict pirates or patrol and secure its territorial waters, following a surge in attacks on ships in the waters off the country’s coast.

“The ASF advises all ship masters to exercise high vigilance and caution when transiting or trading to all pirate prone areas,” it said.

Source: The Star (Malaysia)

Somali pirates may extend deadline on threat
17 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A spokesman for Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off Somalia says his group is considering extending the deadline on its threat to destroy the vessel.

Sugule Ali says the pirates may extend the deadline following requests from the ship's owner and other unidentified people. The pirates have said they will destroy the MV Faina on Monday night or early Tuesday unless a ransom is paid. The ship is carrying 33 tanks and other heavy weapons.

Ali spoke to The Associated Press on Monday in an interview by satellite telephone from the ship.

Ali says his group is reviewing the deadline to see whether the pirates will "modify it and if that is not possible, to execute it."

Source: AP