 Dozens of people were feared dead and many more injured in clashes that broke out on Friday and continued over the weekend in the town of Boru-Hache, also known as El-Waaq, in southwestern Somalia's Gedo region, sources said. "Violations of human rights and international law occurred particularly with regard to the protection of civilians in time of war," Abdullahi Alas Jimale, chief investigator of the Mogadishu-based Isma'il Jim'ale Human Rights Centre (IJHRC), said.
| I sympathize with the innocents who're bumped off by thugs acting out Emma Goldman's fantasies, but international law doesn't apply within countries. It governs (such as it does) the relations among countries. |
Boru-Hache is situated on Somalia's border with Kenya. IJHRC said thousands of people displaced by the clashes between two clans had fled across the border to seek refuge in the neighbouring Kenyan border town of El Wak. The weekend clashes pitted militias from the Gare clan against those from the Marehan. Both sides, Alas said, had used heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, which were fired "without regard to the lives and property of the civilian populations". IJHRC put the civilian death toll at 40 with more than 60 wounded. "These are noncombatants whom we were able to register, but there are probably some who were not registered," Alas added. |