Calls for more suicide attacks

Mogadishu - A top radical Islamist leader in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, on Sunday called for more suicide attacks against African Union peacekeepers in the country, after a deadly strike this week.

"I also call upon the people to carry out more attacks against the African forces; they came to Somalia to assist our enemy, kill them (...) in any way possible and use suicide attacks to kill them," he said.

The Hezb al-Islam official was speaking at a public prayer at Elashabiyaha, about 18 kilometres (10 miles) west of Mogadishu, marking the end of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival.

Twenty-one people, including 17 AMISOM peacekeepers, died in Mogadishu Thursday in a twin car bomb attack claimed by a Somali insurgent group. - Sapa-AFP