Hiiraan Online
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
MOGADISHU MOGADISHU (HOL) -Unidentified gunmen have shot dead two Turkish and three Somali doctors in a drive-by shooting attack the Somali capital Wednesday, the latest in series of attacks against foreigners operating in the horn of Africa, witnesses, officials said.
Witnesses told HOL that the attackers travelling in a car sprayed bullets on the car carrying the doctors in Taleh, an area in the heart of Mogadishu.
The attack happened as the doctors who worked at Dever, a Turkish hospital in the city were heading to their workplace.
No arrests have so far been made, however, police officials said that troops were hunting for the attackers who escaped after the attack which highlights challenges facing Somali government's efforts aimed at maintaining security of the seaside city.
Somali prime minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has condemned the attack, saying that he ‘shares the pain’ with the relatives of the victims for the ‘massacre’ of the Turkish and Somali doctors.
No group has immediately claimed the responsibility for the attack; however suspicions fall on the Al-Qaeda linked militant group in Somalia which earlier threatened attacks against Turkish nationals in Somalia, accusing the Turkish government of backing Somali government.
Turkey is a major ally for Somalia as it became the first foreign administrations to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war.
The Turkish government also continues to undertake major projects in Somalia in a bid to jump-start the Somali economy shattered by the decades old conflict.