Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali deplored an attack in Somalia Monday in which seven U.N. soldiers from India who were escorting a convoy were killed and six wounded, three critically.
"All indications point to the attack being premeditated and highly coordinated," a statement issued through a U.N. spokesman said."The secretary-general deplores this attack on United Nations peacekeeping forces who are carrying out the mandate of the Security Council and the international community in assisting the Somalis in re-establishing their political institutions and achieving peace and stability in their country."
The convoy, traveling from Baledogle to Baidoa, was ambushed near Burlego, about 70 miles southwest of Mogadishu, the capital, by armed militia using so-called "technical" vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns, mortars and small arms, the U.N. statement said.
The identity of the attackers and the casualties among them had not yet been determined, it added.
Five of the wounded Indian soldiers were evacuated to Baidoa and one to the U.N. military hospital in Mogadishu.