Somali Insurgents Vow to Rout AU Peacekeepers

Key Somali Islamist group Al Shabaab has vowed to double attacks against African Union (AU) peacekeepers and force them to leave the country. Al Shabaab Sheikh Muktar Robow spokesman made the statement Tuesday, as seven civilians were killed in heavy clashes between the insurgents and the AU forces in southern Mogadishu. The militants blame the AU troops for the latest civilian deaths, increasingly regarding them with the resentment they have had for the Ethiopian troops backing the country’s secular interim government.[PE]