Somalia: Food riot leaves 5 dead
Pastor Dale Morgan
Somalia: Food riot leaves 5 dead*
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Police fired on a crowd of people trying to
storm a food warehouse in northern Mogadishu Monday, and five civilians
were killed, witnesses said.
Also Monday, officials said a hijacked Danish cargo ship off this
country's coast ran dangerously low on supplies.
Hundreds of people had gathered at a police station that had been turned
into a food distribution center, said Halima Mudey, who was in the crowd.
"People were waiting for the distribution of the food, but some of them
tried to storm and steal the maize and cooking oil, then police opened
fire and killed five people including my brother," Abdiqadir Mohamed
Ilbir said as he wept. He said his brother was shot and killed by the
police.
Mudey also said five people were killed.
Government officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
In other violence, unidentified gunmen threw a hand grenade at police
officers who were patrolling Bakara market, a major Mogadishu trading
center, wounding three of them, said Mohamed Ibar, a bus driver who
witnessed the attack late Sunday. Police then opened fire, killing a
woman who was waiting for a bus nearby, he said.
Shortly after the grenade attack, a gunman fatally shot a police officer
in the back before fleeing, said another witness, Hussein Gar'ade.
Somalia has known little order since 1991, when warlords overthrew
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against one another. A
government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but
has struggled to assert any real control.
In recent months, the government, supported by troops from neighboring
Ethiopia, has battled remnants of an Islamic movement that ruled
Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for six months before being
ousted early this year.
The disorder has offered an opportunity to criminals on both land and
sea. Piracy has been on the increase off Somalia, which lies close to
crucial shipping routes connecting the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean,
where valuable cargo and carriers pass. Officials say the length of
Somalia's coast — 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) — makes it difficult to
prevent pirate attacks.
A maritime official on Monday said crewmembers of a hijacked Danish ship
off the coast could run out of supplies at any time.
"The gunmen and seamen are using the same supply which was intended to
last for only two weeks," said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan
chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. "The supply is getting low
every day."
The MV Danica White with five crewmembers was on its way to the Kenyan
port of Mombasa from Dubai when it was seized by Somali pirates earlier
this month. The crewmembers are all Danish.
Joergen Folmer, the manager of the Danish shipping company that owns the
ship, said he could neither confirm nor deny an e-mail published Monday
in the Danish newspaper B.T., reportedly from the captain, which said
the crew had plenty of food, but was running out of fresh water.
The shipping company, H. Folmer & Co., declined to comments further and
referred questions to the Foreign Ministry, where no one was immediately
available for comment.
In the e-mail, Capt. Niels H. Nielsen also said he was hoping "something
really positive can happen," adding the five-man crew "is really tired
and wants to get home."
Only days after the Danica White was captured, a U.S. ship fired several
warning shots across its bow and also destroyed three small boats the
pirates had used in their assault and were towing behind the Danish vessel.
The U.S. ship called off its pursuit after the pirates navigated the
Danica White into Somalia's territorial waters, where the U.S. does not
have jurisdiction.
Somali pirates are trained fighters, often dressed in military fatigues
and using speedboats equipped with satellite phones and Global
Positioning System technology. They target passenger and cargo vessels
for ransom or loot, and use the money to buy weapons.