One African Union peacekeeper was killed and another injured in a remote controlled roadside bomb explosion which hit their convoy as they conducted mine sweeping in the south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, the peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu said Tuesday.
"As a result of the explosion one soldier was killed while another was injured. Both are from the Ugandan contingent," said a statement from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Xinhua reported.
Nearly 3,400 African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are currently deployed in Mogadishu as part of a UN authorized 8,000 strong force. Other African countries that pledged to contribute have not so far sent in their share because of logistical difficulties.
The small African peacekeeping contingent and the Ethiopian troops backing Somali government forces have been facing daily insurgent attacks from opposition groups opposed to the presence of foreign forces on Somali soil and the policies of the Somali transitional government since late 2006, when an Islamist movement in control of much of south and centre of the country was ousted.
Ethiopia, which send its military forces into Somalia two years ago, announced last month that it would withdraw its troops from Somalia in compliance with a requirement of a peace deal between the Somali transitional government and a main opposition faction. Ethiopia now is pulling its troops out of Somalia.
Under the deal dubbed the Djibouti Agreement signed late last year, AMISOM troops and a joint force from the Somali government and the opposition, Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) , will take over bases vacated by Ethiopian troops which officially started withdrawing from Mogadishu last week.
Meanwhile, AMISOM denied recent media speculation that its forces will withdraw alongside the Ethiopian troops as insurgents, who are in control of most of southern and central Somalia, are poised to take over the capital.
"Some sections of both local and international media have asserted that AMISOM troops will immediately withdraw alongside the Ethiopian troops," it said in the statement.
"This is not correct, because the Djibouti Agreement explicitly stipulated that forces of the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) , the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and AMISOM would jointly take over areas previously controlled by Ethiopian troops. Nothing has changed from this position," the statement said.
