MOGADISHU: Three refugees queuing for food were on Saturday killed in crossfire when corrupt Somali government security forces tried to loot aid supplies in famine-hit Mogadishu, witnesses said.
The eruption of gunfire between security forces and a gang of their colleagues triggered a stampede among refugees who had been waiting to receive food.
Witness Fadumo Adow said the firefight sparked panic among the refugees.
"I saw three bodies, one of them a woman. They were caught in the crossfire as people ran for cover, trampling over each other," Adow said.
Abdullahi Osman, a government security official, put the death toll at two.
"Initial reports we are getting indicate that two civilians have died," he said.
"Somali government security forces exchanged fire with gangs in military uniform who wanted to loot food aid at Badbado camp," he said.
Mogadishu is among six Somali regions that the United Nations says are experiencing famine.
The UN has described Somalia, ravaged by relentless civil war since 1991, as facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
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