Museveni warns Somali Islamists

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said Somali Islamists will “pay” if they attack Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

He spoke after a commander of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab said it would target Uganda and Burundi, which have peacekeepers in Somalia.

The commander said al-Shabaab wanted to retaliate after at least 20 civilians were killed as peacekeepers shelled insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu. A spokesman for the peacekeepers said militants had caused the deaths.

The peacekeepers, who are part of the African Union force Amisom, were responding to an insurgent attack on the airport that occurred as Somalia’s president was leaving for a conference in Uganda.

After heavy shelling left at least 20 dead and more than 50 injured, al-Shabaab commander Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein said militants would attack Kampala and Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.

“We shall make their people cry,” he said. “We will move our fighting to those two cities and we shall destroy them.” Mr Museveni rebutted the threat. “Those terrorists, I would advise them to concentrate on solving their problems,” he said.

In Mogadishu, Major Barigiye Bahoku, the spokesman of Amisom, denied reports that his forces shelled parts of Mogadishu on Thursday.

Local media

Speaking to the local media, Maj Bahoku said that Amisom had nothing to do with the heavy fire that affected in and around Bakara market, the largest trading centre in Mogadishu.

The officer also rejected calls for the compensation of the people who died during the shelling. Maj Bahoku stressed that Amisom soldiers in the country were engaged in peacekeeping duties. “We are in Somalia on peacekeeping duties. We are not here to harm the Somali people,” he said.

The Information Officer of Hizbu Islam, one of the Islamist rebels opposing the TFG, Sheikh Mohamed Moalim Ali, said Amisom forces were in the country to decimate the Somali people.

Meanwhile, al-Shabab fighters have earlier today attacked a compound housing a Burundian contingency of Amisom. The dawn assault occurred at former Jaalle Siyad Military Academy in South Mogadishu.

Additional reporting by BBC