U.S. Soldiers Surprise Robbers, Kill 6 Somalis : Africa: Three of dead are known to be victims of robbery, marking at least second time American forces have acknowledged killing unarmed civilians.

A small U.S. Army unit returning to Mogadishu surprised a band of highway robbers and, while returning fire, killed six Somalis, including one bandit and at least three of the unarmed victims of the robbery, a military spokesman said Saturday.

The incident, on the main two-lane road from Mogadishu to Bela Dogle on Friday night, marked at least the second time that American forces have acknowledged killing unarmed civilians since Operation Restore Hope was launched five weeks ago.

And it reflected growing uneasiness among the 24,500 American troops, who have been stepping up patrols in an effort to root out the gangs of bandits who prey daily on the citizenry and take potshots at the occupying forces.

The Army patrol was operating without lights when it came upon the robbery in progress. The surprised gunmen, who were in the process of robbing a truck filled with passengers, opened fire first on the soldiers. When the soldiers returned fire, six Somalis were killed and five were injured.

Marine Col. Fred Peck, chief spokesman for the U.S.-led mission in Somalia, blamed the gunmen for putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk by opening fire on a heavily armed Army patrol.

“It’s regrettable that civilians were killed,” Peck said. “But when fired upon in the dark, the soldiers responded by firing at the muzzle flashes. It was rather evident that the bandits did not seem to care” about the civilians.

“As far as we can determine, the soldiers reacted as they were trained to react,” Peck added.

Before the soldiers arrived on the scene, more than 10 bandits had stopped the truck, ordered all the passengers off and shot and injured one woman. At least three gunmen opened fire on the patrol, and the Army soldiers, from the 10th Mountain Division based in New York state, returned fire with machine guns and M-16 rifles.

No soldiers were injured, but two of the six vehicles in the patrol were struck by bullets, the spokesman said.

One of the Somalis killed was identified as a bandit, and one weapon was found at the scene. The other gunmen apparently fled into the countryside. Of the other five killed, three were family members of the truck driver. The two unidentified victims also could have been civilians, the military said. The injured were being treated at an Army field hospital.

On Dec. 10, a day after U.S. forces arrived in Somalia, French Legionnaires and U.S. Marines manning a roadblock in Mogadishu opened fire on a truck loaded with men, women and children that had lost its brakes. The troops said the truck had appeared to be running the roadblock. Two died in that attack, and no firearms were found on the truck.

French and American commanders said that shooting was justified under the American “rules of engagement,” which allow troops to open fire on any person showing “hostile intent.”

Under those rules, U.S. forces have killed at least two dozen armed Somalis who either fired on--or aimed weapons at--troops.

Young Somalis especially have grown bolder in their taunting of American and other forces in Mogadishu. On Saturday, a youngster stole a bottle of water from a Marine on the street and, as a crowd gathered, the Marine chased down the small bandit and retrieved his water without incident. Nearby, a young Somali attempted to board a moving Marine truck carrying boxes of troop rations. A Marine on the back of the truck waved his M-16 rifle at the youngster, who promptly disembarked.

Elsewhere in Somalia on Saturday, Army units uncovered the largest weapons cache yet found in the country. Acting on a tip from residents of Afgoi, about 20 miles west of Mogadishu, the Army discovered 30 bunkers containing 200 truckloads of arms. The cache included hundreds of 500-pound bombs, surface-to-air missiles, M-1 rifles and antitank missiles, as well as tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Meanwhile, talks among 14 rival Somali clan leaders in the capital of neighboring Ethiopia ended last week with an agreement for a cease-fire in Somalia and a tentative plan for a national reconciliation conference.