By Xinhua,
Mogadishu : A car bomb attack in this Somali capital killed at least 14 civilians Saturday, according to agencies’ reports.
The attack took place near a base of African Union peacekeepers.
About 3,000 African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are deployed in Somalia. Uganda is to deploy a battalion of about 700 soldiers in Somalia following the complete withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.
Crispus Kiyonga, Uganda’s defence minister, told parliament Thursday that the troops, along with another contingent from Burundi, will be deployed in the country in the next two to three weeks, filling a vacuum created by Ethiopia’s withdrawal.
Somalia has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for decades. Fighting over the last two years, involving Ethiopian-backed government forces and a variety of Islamist groups, has killed thousands and displaced at least a million.