17 Sep 2009

Two massive blasts have rocked an African Union peacekeepers' base in Somalia, when two suicide bombers in vehicles bearing UN logos detonated explosives.

Witnesses told a Press TV correspondent that at least four people--three Somali soldiers and one civilian--had been killed in the blast in the capital, Mogadishu.

Six peacekeepers were also injured in the attack.

Thursday's incident occurred at the African Union (AU) base near the airport in the besieged capital where officials from the new transitional government in Somalia were meeting their AU counterparts.

The troops at the gate allowed the Land Cruisers to enter the base, believing they belonged to the United Nations.

The al-Shabaab rebels, one of the main groups battling President Sharif Ahmed's government, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Shabaab vowed Tuesday to avenge a US raid in southern Somalia, which reportedly killed an al-Qaeda suspect.

There are some 5,000 AU troops, mostly from Uganda and Burundi, to assist the UN-backed government in bringing some sort of stability to a country without a functioning government, since warlords overthrew the former dictator, Siad Barre, in 1991.

Earlier, al-Shabaab issued a list of demands that they insist must be met for the secure release of a French security advisor held since July.

One of the demands states that the French naval fleet, part of a NATO-led naval force on an anti piracy mission in the region, must leave Somali waters.

They have also called for the withdrawal of African peacekeepers from Somalia, especially the contingent from Burundi.

presstv