At least one person was killed and seven others wounded in the Puntland region of Somalia on Monday as security forces clashed with hundreds of Muslims protesting the publication in Europe of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, witnesses and police said.
Police in the semi-autonomous region’s town of Bossaso shot at demonstrators who were hurling stones at the offices of foreign aid agencies and the United Nations.
”The police opened fire at those throwing stones at the offices,” said a police officer in the port town, the commercial hub of Puntland. At least one person was killed and seven wounded, the officer said on condition of anonymity.
His account was verified by witnesses including businessman Ali Haji Mohamed, who said police had used ”brutal force” and ”instigated” the violence against what had been a peaceful protest.
”The police applied a shoot-to-kill policy,” he complained.
Other witnesses said several hundred demonstrators had marched through the streets of Bossaso, chanting anti-Western slogans, particularly directed at Denmark where a newspaper first published the cartoons in September, sparking protests throughout the Muslim world.
”We insult nobody’s religion and accept nobody’s insult,” said some of the demonstrators.
The demonstration was the second protest in Somalia against the publication of the cartoons that have recently been reprinted in other European media.
On Friday, a peaceful protest was held in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. — Sapa-AFP