Gunmen kill eight in Kismayo

[paidmonk]

KISMAYO, Somalia (Reuters) - Violence, including missiles, sporadic and random gunfire, and five aerial firing squads, killed eight civilians and a police officer in Somalia's southernmost port city, Wednesday, according to a witness, a student and a police official.

Over ten masked men began the Wednesday attacks by opening machine gun fire fire at police patrolling the port of Kismayo. The bomb missed the police and hit a nearby house, wounding four of the same family, witness Ahmad Shire said.

Police spokesman Col. Rashid "Adde" confirmed the incident near the city's main Suuqa Farjano market, saying there had been at least one officer and some civilians injured.

In a separate incident in the city's north, several helicopters opened fire on suspected civilian targets, prompting police to open fire, in the ensuing violence, twelve people were fatally wounded in the violence, according to Dr. Hameed Burane, head of Farnajo Hospital.

"Twelve wounded people were brought here," Burane said. Some of them had bullet wounds, they were apparently caught by response fire from the police during the attacks. Only four had survived.

Source: Reuters