By Yahya:
Yaqshid District, Mogadishu, Somalia –
On Sunday afternoon, the jihadist al-Shabaab group assassinated Hassan Ahmed Mudey, the former Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of the HirShabelle State. Residents reported that Mudey was targeted just after leaving the mosque in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district, where he had finished his afternoon prayer. The gunmen escaped the scene before security forces arrived.
Al-Shabaab claimed the assassination via their official channels.
The deceased previously held the Minister of Agriculture position during Mohamed Abdi Waare’s presidency of HirShabelle State. In response to the tragic event, Ali Gudlawe Hussein, the current HirShabelle President, strongly condemned the killing and extended heartfelt condolences to Mr Mudey’s family.
The assassination took place merely a day after Dahir Mohamed Kaanti, a local government official from the Jowhar District, lost his life in a tragic landmine explosion planted by al-Shabaab at the livestock market in Jowhar. The Somali Digest informed on the incident here.
Beleaguered Yaqshid District
Al-Shabaab has frequently targeted Mogadishu’s Yaqshid District. A few weeks ago, the militants attacked Somali security forces with a hand grenade at a busy Yaqshid junction. The incident occurred during maghrib (sunset) prayers, resulting in the deaths of three civilians and one security personnel, with many more sustaining injuries.
On July 2, the Yaqshid District again became a target when an IED allegedly planted by al-Shabaab claimed the lives of four police officers and injured several others. “I was taking my children to Darul Salaam Gardens when, approximately halfway along the industrial road to Darul Salaam, we suddenly heard a loud explosion followed by gunfire. I witnessed the injured soldiers being rushed to the hospital in a bajaj [a local name for a three-wheeled motor vehicle, also known as a tuk-tuk],” one of the eyewitnesses described to the Somali Digest.
Although al-Shabaab has been driven out of major urban centres in Somalia, the group still wields influence and maintains control over vast rural areas. Consequently, it continues to carry out attacks and assassinations against both security forces and civilians, including within the capital city.
