EDITOR’S NOTE: Finally CNN decides to report about Woyanne atrocities in Somalia. But sadly it continues to refer to the occupying troops as “Ethiopian forces.” Those are not Ethiopian forces. They are dictator Meles Zenawi’s private gang mercenary killers who are being financed by the U.S. State Department and World Bank in the name of helping poor people in Ethiopia.
(CNN) — Ethiopian Woyanne forces in Somalia have killed at least 46 civilians after a roadside bomb ripped through their military convoy, residents said.
The violence happened Friday on the road linking Mogadishu to the agriculturally rich town of Afgooye, residents said.
The civilians were riding in two minibuses traveling on the same road, they said.
“There was huge explosion, which blew one of the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne military vehicles off the road,” said Omar Nur Abdirahman, who lives in Arbiska, scene of the incident. “Afterward, del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers started shooting people in the two minibuses wildly.”
The del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopians Woyannes are backing Somalia’s transitional government.
Omar said he and others fled to the nearby forest as the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces began shooting everywhere.
Another witness — Anab Abdi Dirshe, who had been trapped in the area since the shooting — said she and other residents have counted at least 46 dead civilians, mostly women.
Some of the dead were recovered from the forest on the side of the road, indicating some passengers tried to escape the shooting, she said.
“My children and I were hiding somewhere near our house because the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces didn’t leave the area quickly, even after the massacre of the civilians on the buses, so we were so afraid that they would see us and shoot us,” said Dirshe, who was packing her belongings and attempting to move her family from the area.
Dirshe said many victims may have lain dying for hours, adding the road was closed until Saturday morning.
“We were hearing screams in the evening, and those screams stopped later,” she said.
The presence of del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne troops trying to help defend the transitional government’s hold on Mogadishu has united Islamic militant groups seeking to gain control of the city.
In a separate attack inside Mogadishu, five people — including a father and a son — were killed after a roadside bomb exploded on a road as Somalian and del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces were deployed ahead of a presidential motorcade.
The explosion triggered a barrage of gunfire, resulting in the five deaths.
Somali government spokesman Abdi Hagi Gobdon confirmed that security was deployed to Maka Al Mukarama Road as the country’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker were flying from the city.
… more from BBC
More bodies have been discovered in Somalia, near the scene of an attack on two minibuses outside Mogadishu.
Local people returning to their farms after the attack said they had found a further 16 bodies, bringing to nearly 60 the number of civilians killed.
The del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces started shooting after their military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, witnesses said.
The transitional government backed by del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne troops threw out Islamists in 2006, but unrest is continuing.
Islamist insurgents have beeng carrying out frequent raids in the Mogadishu area.
After the latest attack on minibuses, witness Sahra Nor Osma told the Associated Press news agency: “Ethiopian convoys opened fire into different areas where thousands of displaced people were living; they killed everyone on the road.”
Another witness Fadumo Kheyre told AP: “Blood was pouring out of the buses.”
Tens of thousands of displaced Somalis line the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye.
In a separate incident on Friday, insurgents attacked the convoy of President Abdullahi Yusuf as it was leaving for Ethiopia for talks over the country’s fragile ceasefire.
Following that attack, del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne-backed government troops responded by opening fire, killing five civilians.
President Abdullahi Yusuf has gone to Djibouti for talks with his estranged Prime Minister Hussein Nur Adde.
The discussions are aimed at resolving a power struggle between the two men which could in turn affect a ceasefire agreement signed with the opposition in June.