Somali Govt ‘Very Sorry’ as Soldier ‘Accidentally’ Massacres Civilians

Soldier's Anti-Aircraft Gun Jammed While Aimed at Crowd of Civilians

by Jason Ditz, January 31, 2011

Officials from the Somali government are “very sorry” today following a massacre in the city of Mogadishu, in which a member of the self-proclaimed government’s military turned an anti-aircraft gun on a crowd of civilians, killing at least 17 and wounding 81 others.

Officials say that the soldier “accidentally” aimed the gun at the civilians then “accidentally” turned it on, at which time it got stuck in the fire position and tore through the crowd of civilian onlookers. They have promised an investigation.

Bizarrely, however, the Somali soldiers were ordered to the scene after a member of the government’s police killed one of the soldiers who was out of uniform. It was during the stand-off that the civilians gathered around and the attack began.

The incident is the latest in what has been an enormous death toll in Somalia since the self-described government was booted from its Kenya hotel for non-payment and attempted to set up rule in the region.

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