Abdi Hajji Hussein – AHN News Correspondent
Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – One day after the Al Shabaab militant group warned Mogadishu residents against using AMISOM’s medicine, saying it was contaminated with the HIV virus, a spokesman for African Union troops in Somalia on Wednesday vehemently denied the accusations.
In an interview with Shabelle, a local radio station, Capt. Bridgye Bhuko said the Al Shabaab statement is aimed at preventing poor people in Mogadishu from getting free health care and medications.
He urged people not to heed the terror group’s declarations, stating AMISOM is committed to offering free health care and medicine to everyone in need.
The statement comes as Sheikh Ali Mohammed Hussein, the insurgent group’s chairman in the Banadir region, said Mogadishans should not use medicine offered by AMISOM, claiming the drugs may have been contaminated with the HIV virus. Hussein said AMISOM’s medicine came from an unnamed organization that he claimed wanted to spread the virus throughout the country.
“We are telling the people not to use or visit AMISOM bases searching for drugs. Somali people must not be treated with them,” Hussein was quoted as saying.
There are many poor patients in the capital city who can’t afford to go to private hospitals or buy medicine.
