Somaliland Press
Saturday, April 23, 2011
According to the details provided by police, two men were arrested
late Friday night in connection with the murder of Khadar S. Ali, who was sitting in a busy cafe when he was shot several times.
Abdulrashid Adaeed, head of Mudug region Police, said the victim was a
retired police officer from the Ethiopian administrated Somali region.
He reported that police raced to the scene and shut down nearby streets and arrested two suspects. He added they have no further evidence at the moment, but that the suspects were taken to the police station for questioning.
Last week unidentified gunmen stormed two separate mosques in Galkayo and shot dead 7 worshippers and injured more than 14 in what Somali officials called “a massacre”. The carnage took place hours after Puntland’s religion Minister was assassinated in the north of the divided town. In the past month, more than 15 individuals, most of them civilians were killed in the city by unknown assailants. Puntland blames the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab group who are fighting the weak transitional government of Sheikh Sharif in the south.
Puntland officials in the town said security was deteriorating in the
region and requested additional force to be deployed urgently. The
President, Abdulrahman Farole, promised to send additional troops from
Garowe and on Thursday he dissolved the district administration of
Mudug region. He named an interim body to take over immediately and urged them to restore stability and calm.
Many of the residents are beginning to arm themselves saying they no longer have confidence in the administration. Other similar attacks targeting government officials and traditional elders also took place in other Puntland towns including Garowe and Bosasso, where at least four traditional elders were shot dead in the past month.
Galkayo, 700 kilometers north of of Mogadishu, is a divided city that is claimed by the northern enclave of Puntland State and its southern rival administration of Galmudug region.
Somalia has been mired in violence since 1991 when dictator Mohamed
Siad Bare was ousted by armed groups.