3 Indian Doctors Slain in Somalia Field Hospital

Gunmen opened fire on a field hospital in Somalia on Wednesday, killing three Indian doctors and wounding several other people, a U.N. spokesman said.

The unidentified attackers apparently fired a rifle grenade or a mortar at the hospital in Baidoa, the spokesman said. It was not immediately clear how many people were wounded in the attack or who was responsible for the killings.

The doctors were part of India’s U.N. peacekeeping force, but also treated Somali civilians.

On Aug. 22, seven Indian peacekeepers were killed and nine wounded in an ambush by Somali militiamen in southwestern Somalia.

India has about 5,000 peacekeeping troops in Somalia.

Fighting between clans and the appearance of armed militiamen has increased since U.S. troops left Somalia in late March.

Last Thursday, the U.N. Security Council agreed to reduce the U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia from 18,700 troops to 17,200 by the end of this month, and to 15,000 by late October.

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said that the size of the peacekeeping force in Somalia should be reduced and possibly the entire operation scrapped if national reconciliation in Somalia fails.