U.S. Soldiers Reportedly Kill Pregnant Somali

MOGADISHU, Somalia —  Witnesses said U.S. soldiers shot and killed a pregnant woman as she prepared for afternoon prayer at her tea stand Sunday.

The shooting took place along a row of crowded market stalls about 500 yards from a point where Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers and American sharpshooters were stationed.

U.S. military officials had no immediate comment. But Pakistani officers confirmed that the American snipers fired at least two shots from the top of the building, which has a clear line of sight to the market stalls.

The woman, Halima Khalif Ibrahim, 30, who was estimated to have been eight months pregnant, was hit in the abdomen and died at a nearby hospital. The fetus did not survive, the hospital said. A man reportedly was wounded, but could not be located.

“She was washing her face and preparing to pray,” said Asho Ahmed Ali, who was selling fuel at the market stall next to Ibrahim’s.

Ali and other witnesses said neither Ibrahim nor the other man, who apparently was waiting for a bus, were carrying any weapons or long sticks that could be confused with weapons.

The American commander of the sniper teams, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Condon, went to the roof of the command post to investigate the incident. He and other Americans refused to comment as they left the scene.