Two AU peacekeepers killed in Somalia

Two African Union (AU) peacekeepers died in the fresh fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the AU peacekeeping force was quoted by media as saying on Friday.

The nationalities of the dead remained unclear so far.

The report quoted a spokesman of the AU peacekeeping force as saying that the two soldiers were killed and three others were also injured.

The development came when the African leaders are scheduled to meet in Uganda's Kampala starting Sunday in a three day summit, which observers say will be dominated by the security situation in Somalia following the recent twin bomb attacks in Kampala a week ago that killed 76 people.

Al Shabaab, which threatened Uganda and Burundi to withdraw its peacekeepers from Somalia, claimed responsibility of the attacks which are believed to be carried out by suicide bombers.

The Somali government has embarked on lobbying African leaders for the change of the mandate of the Africa Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Mogadishu from peacekeeping to peace enforcement.

Source: Xinhua