Ethiopian troops opened fire and killed five civilian bystanders May 30 after a land mine exploded as their convoy passed through the center of a western Somali town of Belet Weyne. (AP [2], May 30) As the transition government backed by Ethiopian and African Union troops struggle too impose authority on the country, NATO is said to be studying a request from the AU to provide air transport for its forces in Somalia. At present the AU force is made up of just 1,600 Ugandan troops. (Reuters [3], May 30)
See our last posts on Somalia [4] and the Horn of Africa [5].