Somalia: End indiscriminate shelling in Mogadishu

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT AFR 52/005/2009 19 June 2009 Somalia: End indiscriminate shelling in Mogadishu Amnesty International today reiterated its calls to all parties to the armed conflict in Somalia to immediately end indiscriminate attacks that cause civilian deaths and injuries, following the killing of at least 13 worshippers when a mosque was hit by a mortar on 17 June in Mogad [...] Entire districts of Mogadishu have been repeatedly shelled and destroyed with the intensification of conflict since the beginning of 2007. [...] The repeated use of mortars in densely populated areas of Mogadishu and other indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the conflict is evidence that they are all violating international humanitarian law. [...] While some parties to the conflict have expressed concern about the plight of civilians in Mogadishu, none has taken necessary and effective measures to spare the civilian population, including refraining from using mortar and artillery shelling. [...] This is the second time that a Mogadishu mosque has been hit by a mortar since the start of a military offensive by the Hisbul Islam and Al-Shabab armed groups against pro-Transitional Federal Government forces on 7 May this year.