Saturday, December 13, 2008
The circumstances of the incident were still under investigation but an ICRC staff member and driver were also briefly detained following the shooting in central Mogadishu, Nicole Engelbrecht said in Nairobi.
"At about noon (0900 GMT), our vehicle was shot at by TFG (transitional federal government) police although it doesn't look like the ICRC was targeted as such," she said.
"Our staff member in the vehicle and the driver were arrested and then later released," she added.
The security guard was not an ICRC employee but had been working regularly with the aid organisation.
Aid workers have repeatedly been caught in the crossfire of Somalia's deadly conflict, which has made Mogadishu one of the most dangerous capitals in the world for relief organisations.
Many have pulled out their foreign staff following a spate of killings and kidnappings this year but gunmen have since targeted Somalis working for international organisations.
Armed groups currently hold two foreign aid workers from the French organisation Medecins du Monde as well as four members of the Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger) NGO.
Close to half of Somalia's population is in need of food aid.
Source: AFP, Dec 13, 2008