U.S. Copters Kill 2 Somalis After U.N. Soldier Is Slain

MOGADISHU, Somalia —  American helicopter gunships opened fire on a Somali crowd Monday, killing at least two Somalis, after a sniper shot and killed a Pakistani soldier.

It was the latest in a string of clashes between U.N. troops and Somalis since the United Nations attacked power bases of warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid earlier this month.

The U.N. military spokesman, Maj. David Stockwell, said Pakistani troops had been searching for weapons in a building when they came under sniper fire. One soldier died and two others were wounded, he said.

U.S. Cobra gunships called to provide air cover fired 20-millimeter cannon into an armed crowd, killing two Somalis, Stockwell said.

It was the second shooting in two days along 21 October Road, a desolate stretch of abandoned warehouses and factories where the Pakistani contingent of U.N. forces has its headquarters.

Aidid supporters blame the United States and Pakistan for the deaths of several civilians since June 5, when an ambush cost the lives of 24 Pakistani soldiers and the United Nations launched a series of attacks against Aidid headquarters.

Aidid remains at large, despite a U.N. order to arrest him.