U.S. TROOPS ACCUSED IN 3 SOMALI DEATHS

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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993                   TAG: 9303070006
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA                                LENGTH: Medium
U.S. TROOPS ACCUSED IN 3 SOMALI DEATHS
Residents of the Hammer Jadiidi district had just finished a day of fasting when the first shots rang out. Witnesses said the ensuing firefight, involving American troops, left three people dead and two wounded.
The soldiers were accused of shooting indiscriminately in the Friday night incident and fleeing without helping the injured, including a 12-year-old boy who was hit twice in the back.
"They came to our country and said they would save us. Now they are killing us," said Abdi Hassan, a witness who took an Associated Press reporter and photographer to see the blood-stained sidewalk and pock-marked buildings.
But U.S. officials defended the patrol, saying one of their two vehicles was hit several times.
"The patrol took fire. The patrol returned fire. The patrol got the hell out of there," said Air Force Capt. Joe Davis, a U.S. military spokesman. "If any Somalis got killed, they're the ones who shot first."
All shootings involving U.S. troops are investigated. In another incident, a hearing is being held to determine whether a Marine should be court-martialed for shooting and wounding two teen-agers after one tried to steal his sunglasses.
The shooting in the Hammer Jadiidi neighborhood was the most serious in two days of sporadic violence.
On Saturday night, a U.S. Marine died of what military officials said was an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," becoming the seventh American to lose his life in Operation Restore Hope.
The Marine's name was withheld pending notification of relatives, said Marine Col. Fred Peck.
In a brief statement, Peck said the Marine, of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., apparently shot himself at a Mogadishu soccer stadium the Marines use as a base. Peck said the shooting didn't appear to be accidental and would be investigated.
"As you can imagine, everyone's pretty spun up over this," Marine Capt. Ralph Mills said.
Earlier in the day, military officials in Paris said two French soldiers were killed in a road accident between Mogadishu and Baidoa. They were the first Frenchmen to die in the Somali operation.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB