Somali bloodbath: Soldiers kill 17 civilians, wound 80

In what's being characterized as an inappropriate use of firepower, 17 people were killed and at least 80 others were wounded when Somali government soldiers fired weapons designed as anti-aircraft guns at a busy intersection in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu on Monday.

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The tragic incident took place following a shootout between Somali transitional federal government police and a soldier who was holding a pistol but not dressed in the uniform of government forces. The police officers shot and killed the out-of-uniform soldier. Subsequently, Somali military troops accompanied by armored vehicles reached the scene and immediately started shooting at civilians in the junction. Somali citizens then transported the wounded to a Mogadishu hospital emergency room for treatment. Eventually Somali government ministers visited the wounded patients in the hospital and wished them quick recoveries. . The ministers reportedly sent condolences to families of those who lost relatives in the violent incident Somalia’s minister of defense, told the local press that he and his colleagues were sorry about the civilian casualties, vowing that all soldiers behind the shooting spree would be brought to justice as soon as possible. As part of its efforts to create a fully functional government, Somalia is preparing for a full-court press against the terrorist groups such as the powerful Al Shabaab and other al-Qaeda affiliates operating within that impoverished and war-torn African nation. The Somali government announced on January 24 that it opened a police training academy in nearby Djibouti. The new facility will accommodate 500 police officers, according to a report obtained by the U.S. National Association of Chiefs of Police. Speaking during the opening of the training academy, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the Somali leader, told the police trainees to use this chance to become more effective and learn their lessons properly, saying that its suffering people are waiting for them to dispense justice. During the opening ceremony, Ahmed urged the international community to help Somalia to cease being a haven for terrorists, pirates and organized groups of bandits. The president of host country Djibouti, Isma’il Omar Gelle, offered advice to the Somali police cadets. “You must work for your nation, you must also be real nationalists for defending your country,” Gelle said.