ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 16, 1993                   TAG: 9306160190
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA                                LENGTH: Medium


U.S. ADMITS ERRANT MISSILE STRUCK CIVILIANS IN SOMALIA

More than 24 hours after the fact, U.S. military officials admitted Tuesday that a TOW missile fired by a Cobra helicopter veered out of control and smashed into a civilian area of Mogadishu.

The errant missile, which was supposed to hit a rocket-launcher, injured 12 people Monday and raised questions about lengths to which the United Nations would go to crush warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, blamed for ambushes June 5 that killed 23 Pakistani soldiers.

"We are facing a particularly cunning and callous enemy. We will do everything we can to avoid casualties to civilians, but we will not hesitate to do our duty to help disarm this faction," said Col. Jim Campbell, commander of the American quick-reaction force responsible for the daylight missile attack.

In Washington, President Clinton urged the United Nations to ensure that its peacekeeping troops do not kill more civilians, but strongly defended his decision to order air strikes.

"I expect [the U.N.] . . . to take every appropriate step to make sure that U.N. peacekeepers do not cause injury or death to innocent people in Somalia," Clinton told a news conference at the White House. "That is the United Nations' job, and the United States expects them to do it."

After three nights and a day of U.N. bombardments of Aidid targets, Mogadishu enjoyed its first quiet day Tuesday. Flares lit up the skies before dawn as the U.N. sought to remind Aidid it had not backed off, but no bombs were dropped.

Food distribution sites were closed for the 10th straight day as foreign aid agencies kept most of their staff in Nairobi, Kenya, in case of renewed violence.

Aidid remained defiant, appearing at a rally of about 2,000 supporters and demanding the U.N. stop its attacks if it wants him to cooperate. New barricades went up around his walled compound.

Despite blaming Aidid for the Pakistani deaths, the United Nations has not moved to arrest him and says its investigation into the ambushes continues.

In the northern half of the divided city, Aidid's main rival, Mohamed Ali Mahdi, cheered the U.N. actions. He also blamed Aidid for the shooting deaths of 14 anti-U.N. protesters by Pakistani troops Sunday.

The shootings, followed by Monday's missile attack, have wrecked the humanitarian image the multinational mission had when it was transferred from U.S. to U.N. control in May.

Since December, the military effort had imposed order to allow the delivery of food and other aid to the starving and helpless in Somalia's civil war.

Italy's defense minister, Fabio Fabbri, said U.N. peacekeepers' prestige could suffer if too many civilian casualties occur. He questioned the wisdom of letting Pakistani troops face Sunday's protesters in the wake of the June 5 ambushes.

"If these events of June 5 had happened to the Italian contingent, probably it would not be a good thing to have the Italian contingent facing the crowd," Fabbri said.

Witnesses have said the Pakistanis fired hundreds of rounds without provocation. The Pakistani contingent says it spotted gunmen in the crowd and came under fire itself. The U.N. Security Council supported its action in a resolution Monday.



 by CNB