Somalia
Lawmaker's home attacked, Ethiopian soldiers kill 2 civilians
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May 11, 2008 - 1:42:45 PM

BAIDOA, Somalia May 11 (Garowe Online) - The home of a former Somali warlord-turned-lawmaker was attacked Sunday in the southwestern town of Baidoa, where the country's interim federal parliament sits, officials said.

MP Mohamed Qanyare, the notorious ex-warlord, was not at the house during the attack. Mr. Qanyare is overseas on a medical trip, according to sources close to the lawmaker.

One of the armed guards protecting the house was killed and another guard wounded during the exchange of gunfire, security sources said.

Conflicting reports have emerged about the attack, with some sources saying that suspected insurgents targeted the home.

But other reports suggested that MP Qanyare's armed guards fought among each other after an undisclosed dispute erupted between them.

A Baidoa police official who spoke with Garowe Online on the condition of anonymity confirmed the attack, adding that local authorities were conducting an investigation.

It is the first time the home of a lawmaker has been attacked in Baidoa, although similar attacks have taken place in the capital Mogadishu before.

In an unrelated incident, Ethiopian soldiers standing guard at a major road inside Baidoa shot and killed two walking civilians, according to witnesses.

The main road was closed by heavily-armed soldiers, who were protecting trucks transporting water to the Ethiopian army base in Baidoa.

The soldiers first ordered the two civilians to stop but then moments later bullets were heard, according to Baidoa resident Abdullahi who saw the two dead bodies on the ground.

Somalia has been mired in civil war since 1991, with various clans fighting each other for power and resources.

But in late 2006, Ethiopian troops invaded the chaotic Horn of Africa nation to protect the interim government in Baidoa and Mogadishu.

Somali rebels led by remnants of the Islamic Courts movement have waged war against the weak interim government and its Ethiopian military backers.

Source: Garowe Online