Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993 TAG: 9308090065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA LENGTH: Medium
Moments after the Humvee all-purpose vehicle was mangled by the blast in southern Mogadishu, soldiers following behind were pinned down by intense gunfire. None of the attackers was hit by the return fire.
It was the third ambush of U.N. forces since Wednesday and underscored the inability of foreign forces to control the clan militiamen who drove Somalia into anarchy. Two Americans were injured in a land mine blast Thursday.
U.N. special representative Jonathan Howe blamed the attack on warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who has eluded capture and controls the biggest militia in the capital.
"These deaths will not have been in vain," said Howe, a retired U.S. admiral. "We will actively defend against terrorism and vigorously pursue the perpetrators of these crimes."
President Clinton condemned the killings and said the United States will try to find out who is responsible "and take appropriate action." He refused to elaborate.
"There are regrettably people who still have a vested interest in misery and murder and mayhem, so our people are at risk," Clinton said.
Clinton said he continued to support the U.S. role in the U.N. mission in Somalia, noting the mission had brought food and medicine to a country where tens of thousands had been starving.
But other U.S. leaders called Sunday for stronger efforts to find Aidid, and a reassessment of the U.S. presence in Somalia.
"I think we need to step up the efforts to find Aidid and to neutralize his forces," House Speaker Thomas Foley said in an interview with CNN.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the United States may face pressure to pull out of Somalia. "I think it's time to reassess it," he said.
After past assaults on international peacekeepers, U.N. forces have launched airborne attacks on suspected Aidid strongholds in southern Mogadishu. Howe has ordered Aidid's arrest and put a $25,000 reward on his head.
The Army identified three of the soldiers who were killed as Spc. Mark Gutting, 25, of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Spc. Keith Pearson, 25, of Tavares, Fla., both of the 977th Military Police Company from Fort Riley, Kan.. Also killed was Sgt. Ronald N. Richerson, 24, of Portage, Ind., who was based in the 300th Military Police Company from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
The other soldier's name was withheld pending notification of family.
The four belonged to the U.S. Logistics Support Command based at the main U.N. headquarters in Mogadishu, said U.N. military spokesman Maj. Dave Stockwell.
They were the first U.S. troops killed since U.N. forces took over May 4 from a U.S.-led coalition that protected food aid deliveries. A total of eight American soldiers were killed between the troops' arrival in December and the handover to U.N. control.
U.N. officials said they don't believe Americans have been deliberately targeted by recent attacks - which have further hampered aid efforts and led some critics to question whether harsher action is needed against clan fighters.
The two-vehicle U.S. convoy was returning to its base when the lead Humvee, carrying the four soldiers, hit the mine in the suburb of Medina. Three soldiers on the other vehicle came under fire, Stockwell said.
Three of the soldiers died on the spot. Pearson died later at the main American field hospital after two hours of surgery, said U.S. spokeswoman Maj. Leann Swieczkowski.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB