Five killed in Mogadishu shootings

Mogadishu - At least five people were killed and 15 wounded in separate incidents when unidentified gunmen indiscriminately opened fire on crowds of civilians in southern Mogadishu. Four people were killed instantly and eight others wounded when 10 gunmen in a Toyota pick-up armed with heavy and small machine- guns, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and rifles opened fire on a public bus.

In the second incident, outside Mogadishu's new seaport, one person was shot dead and four wounded when a vehicle mounted with a machine-gun fired at a car carrying members of the port administration. People in the neighbourhood said they believed the attacks were connected with the growing insecurity in the Somali capital since General Mohamed Farah Aideed was declared interim president of Somalia on 15 June by a conference of supporters of his United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance faction.