Ethiopian troops backing Somalia's fragile government killed one person and injured another yesterday after their convoy was targeted by a land mine in the Somali capital, witnesses said.
It was the latest in a series of explosions targeting convoys carrying government officials or troops, as Islamic insurgents appeared to be stepping up attacks. Meanwhile at sea, piracy was threatening aid deliveries to impoverished Somalis, prompting the UN food agency to appeal for high-level international action to secure waters off the coast.
The Ethiopians' six-vehicle convoy had been passing through the southern part of Mogadishu yesterday when a land mine detonated prematurely in front of the first pickup truck, said witness Abdi Ma'alin, who was walking nearby.
The troops -- who had come from the former Ministry of Defense building -- opened fire in all directions soon after the blast, and controlled the scene for 15 minutes before they continued their journey, said another witness, Sahal Sheik, who sells sheep in a mini market.
Ma'alin said the Ethiopians arrested one person. There was no immediate word on Ethiopian casualties from yesterday's attack.
"The explosion was so huge that it sent volumes of smoke into the sky," Ma'alin said.
After the Ethiopians opened fire, "I saw one civilian body lying on the curb, and another with blood on his shoulder running toward the residential neighborhoods," he said.
A day earlier, a bomb explosion near Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere's convoy killed at least two civilians, said Dheere, who was unharmed. His bodyguards shot and killed a suspected insurgent who had been in a nearby tree.
"The remnants of the Islamic courts are behind this explosion," Dheere said on Sunday, referring to the Council of Islamic Courts, which seized control over southern Somalia last year before being driven out by government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers.
Another bomb attack on Thursday targeted the prime minister's convoy, but no one was hurt.
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