MOGADISHU, Somalia — In a targeted attack today in Mogadishu’s Garasbaalley district near Sarkusta, gunmen wielding pistols assaulted two shops, resulting in one businessman dead and another injured.
The shops were equipped with CCTV cameras after an order by Somalia’s federal government. The victims, both employees of the targeted shops, were compelled to operate the cameras before being shot, with the assailants aiming for headshots. Miraculously, one man survived the attack with injuries.
The perpetrators, suspected to be from Al-Shabaab, escaped the scene after the shooting. Security forces responded promptly, conducting a brief operation in the Sarkusta area of Garasbaalley district.
This incident marks the latest in a series of attacks against businessmen in Mogadishu complying with government directives. A similar attack a month earlier in Soona-key resulted in one trader killed and another wounded. Additionally, three businessmen in Dayniile district were executed by masked gunmen after they closed their CCTV-equipped businesses following government orders.
Al-Shabaab has previously attacked commercial spaces fitted with cameras, in defiance of government policies, leading to six casualties in past incidents. The ongoing conflict between the government and Al-Shabaab has placed local businessmen in a precarious position, caught between compliance with government regulations and the threat of militant reprisals.
HORN LIFE
