Residents in Tiyeglow gather outside their homes on September 4th to welcome then-Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed on a visit to the town. Tiyeglow was liberated from al-Shabaab in August, but a recent brutal attack on women has residents reeling with fear.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Residents of Somalia's Bakol region are shocked and saddened by the brutal murder of seven womenin Tiyeglow district last week, but local officials have warned citizens not to take the law into their own hands and perpetuate the cycle of violence and revenge.
After al-Shabaab militants beheaded a Somali National Army soldier's wife and her friend on December 10th, a group of soldiers led by the slain woman's husband rounded up women believed to be close to al-Shabaab and killed five of them in retaliation.
Tiyeglow District Commissioner Mohamed Abdulle Hassan said neither of the two women al-Shabaab beheaded cooked for the Somali government forces as was previously reported. He said the women were close friends and were kidnapped from the soldier's house.
"Al-Shabaab broke into a house on the outskirts of Tiyeglow town at night and kidnapped two women who had done nothing," he told Sabahi. "After a few hours, they discarded [the bodies of] the beheaded women in the town's garbage dump."
Hassan said investigations into the five women killed in retaliation revealed that four of them were married to al-Shabaab fighters.
Two of the four government soldiers who took part in the murders are in custody, he said, and efforts are under way to capture the remaining killers, including the al-Shabaab members.
"By God, I was very, very saddened and I condemn the killing of the seven women," Hassan said.
"You would be shocked if you saw how the women who were beheaded by al-Shabaab were killed. The other women who were killed in revenge by the soldier were also killed in a terrible manner," he added. "This is unbearable and both sides who have committed murders have done something inhumane."
Calls for calm as investigations proceed
Hassan said he asked the federal government and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces based in Tiyeglow to assist them in capturing the murderers, and that joint investigations are taking place.
"I am calling on the residents of the town of Tiyeglow to demonstrate calm, and I promise them that all the criminals who took part in the murder of the women will be captured," he said.
"Members of al-Shabaab are now hiding in rural areas and they no longer have power over Bakol region," Hassan said. "But I would like to urge all residents living in the region to take each other's hand and rebel against al-Shabaab, which tries to create conflict among the people."
Al-Shabaab was pushed out of Tiyeglow, the group's last stronghold in Bakol, in August.
"I would also like to tell the public not to break the law," he said, adding that citizens must not be tempted to take matters into their own hands and seek revenge on any remaining al-Shabaab elements. "Anyone who has a complaint should contact us so that we may address everything lawfully."
Traditional elder Ahmed Garad, 56, said residents are searching for ways to help the Tiyeglow administration capture all those responsible for the deaths of the seven women.
"It is beyond belief that an armed soldier dressed with the national army's uniform killed people who had not been sentenced by the law," he told Sabahi.
"We will not let anyone kill the women of Bakol region," he said. "If anyone is accused of being part of al-Shabaab, there is law and order and the law will sentence them."
Women fear for their safety
Mother-of-five Faduma Omar, 35, said she and other women from Tiyeglow were frightened by the murders.
"I am very sad about the women that were beheaded by al-Shabaab and the five women who were killed in revenge by the government soldier," she said. "As the women of Tiyeglow, this event has caused us considerable fear."
Many local women were forced to marry al-Shabaab fighters when the group ruled the town, she said, and these women are now in grave danger due to the crimes committed by al-Shabaab.
The Somali government must make an effort to identify these women and reach out to them so they can be reintegrated into society, she said.
As part of the federal government's amnesty programme, due to expire December 31st, al-Shabaab members who defect will undergo a nine-month long reintegration programme.
However, rehabilitation centres are currently only operational in Beledweyne, Baidoa and Mogadishu.
Sahra Yusuf, a 28-year-old mother of two who lives in Tiyeglow, told Sabahi that one of the women killed in the revenge attack against al-Shabaab did not even have links to the group.
"I was very saddened [because] I knew one of the women killed by the soldiers well," she said, adding that it was difficult to accept her friend's death knowing that she was neither married to an al-Shabaab militant nor did she have other ties with the group.
"I was shocked by the murders of all the seven women and I condemn them all," she said.