Violence in Somalia Involving Marines Leaves 3 Dead

Residents of the Hammer Jadiidi district had just finished a day of fasting when the first shots rang out. Witnesses said the ensuing firefight, involving American troops, left three people dead and two wounded.

The soldiers were accused of shooting indiscriminately in the Friday night incident and fleeing without helping the injured, including a 12-year-old boy who was hit twice in the back.

But U.S. officials defended the patrol, saying one of its two vehicles was hit several times.

“The patrol took fire. The patrol returned fire. The patrol got the hell out of there,” said Air Force Capt. Joe Davis, a U.S. military spokesman. “If any Somalis got killed, they’re the ones who shot first.”

All shootings involving U.S. troops are routinely investigated.

The shooting in the Hammer Jadiidi neighborhood was the most serious in two days of sporadic violence.

On Saturday night, a U.S. Marine died of what military officials said was an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” becoming the seventh American to lose his life in Operation Restore Hope.

The Marine’s name was withheld pending notification of relatives, Marine Col. Fred Peck said.

In a brief statement, Peck said the Marine, of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, based in Twentynine Palms, apparently shot himself at a Mogadishu soccer stadium the Marines use as a base. Peck said the shooting did not appear to be accidental and would be investigated.

Earlier in the day, military officials in Paris said two French soldiers were killed in a road accident between Mogadishu and Baidoa. They were the first Frenchmen to die in the international military intervention in Somalia.

In violence Friday, U.S. troops killed two other Somalis in separate incidents, and two children were injured--one seriously--when a hand grenade they were playing with exploded.

The Hammer Jadiidi residents said many people were outside Friday evening when looters entered a nearby market and fired shots. They said the Marines, on patrol nearby, opened fire.

It was unclear who shot whom. But when the gunfire was over, five casualties were taken to Benadir Hospital. A nurse, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three were dead on arrival. Residents said others may have died.

Abuker Abdullah Weylije, 22, lay dazed in a bare bunk at the hospital, a huge bandage covering the left side of his face. A bullet hit beside his left eye and exited behind his ear.

A 12-year-old boy, Abdi Ali Hassan, was injured when he was hit twice in the back by bullets or fragments. His father said the youth had been home, walking to his room, when he was hit.

The neighborhood residents said that while they were upset over the deaths and injuries, they were even more angry that no one came to talk with them Saturday.