The government is “saddened” by the AU peacekeepers’ assertive measures vis-a-vis the Islamists, who, as opposed to the former, intentionally and repeatedly kill and terrorize Somali civilians — with, of course, nary a word from the Somali government (yes, Somalia actually has a government).
“Somalia ‘saddened’ by AU peacekeepers’ shelling of Mogadishu residential areas,” from China View, February 27:
MOGADISHU, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — The Somali government Friday said it was saddened by the shelling of residential areas by African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu which it said led to the death and injury of people and the further displacement of new returnees, according to local media reports.
The statement comes after two days of intense fighting between fighters of the insurgent group of Hezbul Islam, and peacekeepers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) backing Somali government forces.
“We are saddened that AMISOM have bombed people who have now started to return to their homes and have restarted to flee again. We hope that would stop,” Suleman Olad Roble, the Minister for Youth and Sports in the newly formed government of national unity, was quoted by Shebelle radio in Mogadishu as saying.[…]
This is an unprecedented statement from the Somali government which relies mainly on the peacekeepers for its protection against armed insurgent groups opposed to its existence.
Roble said it was important that the Somali people reconcile among themselves so that “the African Union peacekeepers can go home.”
The presence of the nearly 34,00 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi has been a thorny issue for the new Somali government as influential local clerics have demanded that the government ask the troops to leave the country within 120 days…
Moreover, the government is required to fully implement sharia law, a la Pakistan’s recent capitulation in the Swat Valley, in this same 120 day period –or else.