As
Kenya Navy
Shells
Somalia, UN No
Answer For
Days,
Like Drone
Strikes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 4 --
In some
countries, the
UN looks the
other way
when civilians
in a city get
shelled. On
Somalia, on
August 30
Inner
City Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
associate
spokesman
Farhan Haq:
Inner
City Press:
there has been
a report that
the Kenyan
navy was
shelling
Kismayo and
that they are
not part of
AMISOM
[African Union
Mission
in Somalia].
They are in
support of
AMISOM
military
action there,
but civilians
have been
killed. I just
wondered if
Mr.
[Augustine]
Mahiga, or how
the UN views
essentially
the Kenyan
navy shelling
Somalia.
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: There has
been no
comment from
Mr. Mahiga
thus
far, but we’ll
check and see
whether there
is anything he
says
further about
these reports.
But
in the four
days
afterward,
there was no
further
response.
Rather,
there were new
reports of
shelling, even
indirectly
confirmed by
Kenyan Army
spokesman
Emmanuel
Chirchir.
And
so at the next
UN noon
briefing on
September 4,
Inner City
Press
asked
Ban's lead
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City Press:
there seems to
be now renewed
shelling of
Kismayo in
Somalia by the
Kenyan navy.
Since this is
African Union
Mission in
Somalia
(AMISOM), I
believe, it’s
either
materially
supported by
DFS
[Department of
Field Support]
and there is
Mr. [Augustine
P.]
Mahiga. What
does the
United Nations
say? Some
people are
saying
these are
random; it’s
not a targeted
shelling, it’s
just a
simply
shelling of a
town in the
name of
peacekeeping.
Is there some
UN response to
this?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I believe this
has been
raised
already. To my
knowledge,
there is not a
naval
component of
AMISOM. I will
need to check,
but
to my
knowledge
there is not a
naval
component of
AMISOM. But as
I
say, I will
check.
Eight
hours later,
there had been
no response at
all - most
importantly,
on
what does the
UN say about
this shelling
of a city in a
country in
which it has
long had a
Political
Office? Why
does the UN
speak out
against such
shelling in
some countries
and not
others?
Some
see this as
similar to the
plausible
deniability of
WHO did the
strikes that
most recently
killed
civilians in
Yemen. For a
country
to try to get
away with it
is one thing.
But the UN?
Watch this
site.
, 
