Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040014
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA LENGTH: Medium
SOLDIER KILLED BY LAND MINE
A U.S. soldier was killed by a land mine Wednesday, the second American death in as many days.The chief U.S. military spokesman also announced that two Marines faced hearings on whether they used excessive force in shootings that killed one young Somali and wounded another who tried to steal a soldier's sunglasses.
The hearings, the first since the U.S.-led military coalition arrived in December, could lead to courts-martial and possible prison sentences.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials in Kismayu said they hoped to hand over control of the port to Belgian soldiers in two days, a transition that has been delayed by clan fighting.
Six American soldiers have been killed in Operation Restore Hope, the U.S.-led effort to end clan strife and guard food intended for Somalia's starving.
The soldier killed Wednesday was a member of the Army's Special Forces. He died after the Humvee he was riding in struck a mine while going to a meeting of Somali elders in a town 90 miles northeast of Belet Huen, Marine Col. Fred Peck said.
The soldier's name was being withheld until his family could be notified.
On Tuesday, Pvt. John D. Robertson, 28, of Tustin, Calif., died when the Army wrecking truck he was riding in swerved to avoid a pedestrian and overturned, Peck said. Robertson was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
Peck said the first pretrial hearing on the possible use of excessive force was scheduled for today and involved a Marine who wounded a 17-year-old Somali who tried to steal his sunglasses.
Gunnery Sgt. Harry Conde, 33, a radar technician based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., shot the boy while riding in a convoy in central Mogadishu on Feb. 2.
A pretrial hearing also was planned for Marine Sgt. Walter Andrew Johnson, 25, who killed a 13-year-old boy who rushed toward his vehicle holding what was perceived to be a suspicious object.