Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 19, 1993                   TAG: 9310190061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. TROOPS SHOOT AT SOMALIS

There were no signs the incidents were related. Isolated grenade, mortar and gunfire attacks over the past week or so have been tied to clans fighting in Mogadishu and have not appeared aimed at the multinational force.

This port on the Indian Ocean had been at its quietest in four years since militiamen of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid shot down two helicopters in a battle that killed 18 American soldiers Oct. 3. Aidid spokesmen said more than 300 Somalis died.

Outrage in the United States over the toll persuaded President Clinton to choose diplomacy over military force. Aidid called a cease-fire last week and released an American pilot and a Nigerian soldier he was holding hostage.

A U.N. spokeswoman, Capt. Dawn Kilpatrick, said no one was injured when American troops opened fire as 10 armed Somalis approached their base in southwestern Mogadishu.

"They fired warning shots, and the Somalis . . . all fled," she said.

But journalists said up to four Somali men who appeared to have been wounded in the incident were treated at Benadir Hospital.

Kilpatrick said she had no reports of casualties.

Monday morning, Turkish soldiers guarding an entrance to the U.N. compound in southern Mogadishu fired into the air when people threw stones at them, she said. The crowd dispersed, and there were no casualties.

Earlier in the day, a Somali tried to sneak into the U.N. compound through barbed wire. He fled when troops fired over his head, Kilpatrick said.

Later, another Somali tried to sneak in at another part of the compound, with the same result.

Kilpatrick said a mortar round fired from near the southern neighborhood of Medina exploded Sunday night near the national stadium. No U.N. troops were in the area, and there was no word on casualties, she said.

The U.N. force stopped ground patrols and cordon-and-search exercises to round up weapons after a land mine was found last month on the main road at the perimeter of the city.

Military convoys in Aidid-controlled southern Mogadishu have been limited to essential missions since Oct. 3.

Instead, the United Nations has stepped up aerial surveillance by U.S. helicopters equipped with radar and night-vision devices.

The increase in attempted attacks in the capital might be linked to Aidid's displeasure over the United Nations' not releasing some 70 detainees, including his four top aides, after two U.N. troops were freed.

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