On 6 July 1990 Red Beret bodyguards indiscriminately shot into the crowd at a soccer stadium when the latter began booing and shouting anti-government slogans following a speech by Siad Barre (Reuters, 7 July 1990). Although the Government of Somalia has denied media reports that there was a heavy death toll at the Mogadishu soccer stadium, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and the Associated Press reported that at least 65 people were confirmed dead at the city's Digfer Hospital (8-12 July 1990). About 109 others were reported to have been injured when security forces opened fire after "some provocateurs" began throwing stones at President Barre (Ibid.).

Responding to media reports, the Somali government has given various explanations, some of which appear contradictory. The Somali Minister of Information and Tourism denied reports that more than 100 were shot at and has dismissed them as "baseless...fabricated and concocted" by foreign countries and "bad Somali elements" (Reuters, 12 July 1990). On the other hand, the First Secretary at the Somali Embassy in Rome insisted that only three people were killed during the stadium incident. The Ministry of Labour, Sports and Social Affairs called it "a chance accident" (The New York Times, 11 July 1990). However, a police hospital in Mogadishu reported that seven people were killed and 18 injured while Somali radio reported that only three people died and attributed the incident to "a disturbance caused by overcrowding in the stadium" (Reuters, 8 July 1990). Africa Watch, the human rights group based in Washington strongly condemned the killings and attributed them either to the work of special units or to the stampede as they scrambled to avoid the shots.

Attached please find copies of excerpts from the following documents addressing the above topic:
-"Somali Government Says Stadium Death Toll was Seven", Reuters, 12 July 1990.
-"65 Reported Slain at Somali Soccer Game", Los Angeles Times, 11 July 1990.
-"Police Open Fire in Somali Stadium", The New York Times, 11 July 1990.
-"At Least 65 Killed At Soccer Match", The Associated Press, 10 July 1990.
-"Italy to Consult EC Partners Over Somalia Stadium Deaths", Reuters, 8 July 1990.
-"Somali President's Bodyguards Kill Dozens at Soccer Match", Reuters, 7 July 1990.