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Somalia

Islamist rebels kill four peacekeepers in Somalia

30 Aug 2010 17:43:39 GMT

Source: Reuters

* Ugandans killed in attack on presidential palace

* President says government needs more international help

* Six civilians killed in separate clash in capital

(Updates death toll, adds quote from Somali president)

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Four Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday when Islamist rebels fired mortars at the presidential palace, the African Union said.

Six civilians were killed in a separate shelling incident between AU troops and fighters of the al Shabaab Islmaist group in the north of the city, ambulance services said.

Uganda and Burundi have deployed more than 6,300 troops in the anarchic Horn of Africa country to guard the port and airport and shield President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from attack.

Last week, al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab vowed to intensify its holy war against the U.N.-backed government which it denounces as a puppet of the West.

"We lost four Ugandan soldiers in mortar fire on Villa Somalia this morning," AU spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said, referring to the presidential palace. Eight Ugandan soldiers were wounded, he said.

Ahmed said his government needed more international assistance against the militants who launched their first attack on foreign soil in July, killing 79 people in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in twin bomb attacks.

"It is quite impractical to expect Somalia alone to contain the evil al Qaeda-al Shabaab alliance, as Somalia is emerging from 20 years of destruction and a chaotic political environment," Ahmed said in a statement.

Political analysts say the presence of foreign troops in Somalia allows militants to pose as nationalist champions with a mandate for the kind of devastating attacks such as last week's.

Ahmed said his government needed more international assistance to counter al Shabaab, similar to that given to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, where al Qaeda also operates.

"The Somali government has neither similar support nor nearly as much resources as those countries have. Yet it's facing a similar, if not more potent, enemy," he said.

Ambulance services in Mogadishu said six people were killed and 19 wounded in separate shelling between AU troops and al Shabaab.

"We collected most of the casualties from the north of Mogadishu where the two groups exchanged shells," Ali Musa, the coordinator of ambulance services, told Reuters.

The AU said it had reinforced security on the strategic Maka Al Mukaaram road, which runs from the centre of Mogadishu near the presidential palace to the port.

Its loss would be a severe blow to the government.

"Al Shabaab cannot come to the Maka Al Mukaaram road as long as we are here," Ba-Hoku told Reuters.

"We chased them back yesterday. They had plans to come to this road but we did not allow them."

Ambulance services and hospitals say 140 people have been killed in fighting since al Shabaab insurgents stormed a hotel in Mogadishu last week, killing 31 people, including members of parliament.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed, writing by Wangui Kanina; Editing by George Obulutsa and Andrew Dobbie) (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/)