Saturday June 30, 2018
Bodies of two people who were reported missing in Tarbaj, Wajir County a few days ago have been found in a shallow grave.
The two are among four people who were reportedly picked up by security officers from their shops in Konton and Khorof Kharar areas in an ongoing operation in parts of Tarbaj and Wajir East sub-counties.
The two have been identified as Adan Debar Abdi and Abdikadir Jimaale.
Security officers intensified hunt to Al-Shabaab militants after eight police officers were killed in Bojigaras earlier this month.
The attackers made away with assault rifles and ammunition belonging to the slain officers.
TOTURED
Witnesses said the two bodies were found by herders in a shallow grave at the same location where the improvised explosive device went off between Kutulo and Bojigaras, five days after they were reported missing.
The bodies were badly mutilated and were found with missing parts and bore signs of torture.
The bodies were removed to Wajir Referral Hospital mortuary where a postmortem was conducted before they were buried.
A section of residents held prayers for the victims at Wajir Qorahey grounds before burying them at Ahmed Liban Cemetery.
Their death brings the number of people allegedly killed by the security officers to three after a 50-year-old man was killed in Kutulo AP camp last week.
Addressing journalists, Wajir East MP Rashid Kassim expressed fears of the return of extrajudicial killings in the county and blamed the security forces for the act.
‘’Three days ago we demanded for them to be arraigned in court as we were fearing for their lives and here they are lying in body bags,” Mr Kassim said.
He said the deceased were picked from Khorof Kharar and Osmadile areas while going on with their daily routine.
The MP said the victims owned shops in the areas where they were picked from before being tortured and later killed.
Mr Kassim further expressed fears that the two other missing residents, Mr Yusuf Ibrahim Osman and Mr Hassan Mohamed Abdi Adow might face the same fate.
“We demand that the victims be arraigned in court if there is any suspicion of their involvement in the terrorist activities instead of killing them,” he said.
He further called on special inquiry into killing and enforced disappearances of the youth in the country and prosecution of those involved in the criminal act.
Mr Abdi Barre, a local resident, said that they were live in fear.
Mr Barre said they were ready to work with the security officers and have in the past provided information on terrorism but the government has turned against them.
But the government has denied claims of targeting innocent civilians and destroying their property.