MOGADISHU: An attack on African Union peacekeepers and an ensuing gunbattle killed at least 10 civilians and wounded two peacekeepers in the Somali capital, witnesses and hospital officials said on Thursday.

The Ugandan peacekeepers — the first to arrive in Mogadishu in more than a decade — were attacked on Wednesday at a main intersection in one of the most dangerous and gun-infested cities in the world.

Mustaf Farah, a restaurant owner who witnessed Wednesday’s attack, said he heard an explosion as three armoured vehicles carrying peacekeepers went by, followed by gunfire.

“We saw our customers sitting in front of the restaurant bleeding and crying out with pain and shock,” he said.

Paddy Ankunda, the Ugandan forces’ spokesman, told a local radio station that two peacekeepers were wounded. He would not elaborate when contacted by The Associated Press.

Botan Hirey Kheyre, a local elder, said the ambush left a horrific scene. “Both the assailants and the AU troops disappeared immediately. It was the civilians who suffered before our eyes,” he said.

Somali officials said on Wednesday night that three civilians were wounded in an initial explosion and the gunbattle that followed, but the casualty toll increased on Thursday after hospitals started reporting the deaths.—AP