Al-Shabab has publicly executed a 93-year-old elder accused of participating in the last Somali Parliamentary election as a member of the clan representatives who selected the current serving lawmakers.
The al-Qaeda-linked militant group confirmed the execution of the tribal elder, Abshir Nur Hussein carried out on Monday at Gamboole area, near Bal’ad district of Middle Shabelle region, about 30 Kilometers north of Mogadishu.
A resident who spoke on a condition of anonymity reported that local people were forced by the extremist fighters to watch the murder of Hussein who was shot dead by a firing squad in front of hundreds of people, including women and children.
Sources confirmed the elder has been in AlShabab’s secret jail for nearly four months after having been taken hostage while on a reconciliation mission to solve a conflict between pastoralists and farmers in the extremist held area.
Monday’s public execution was the latest of a string of assassinations against the clan elders who voted for the lawmakers of the 10th Somali Federal Parliament in 2016-2017 elections.
In 2017, Alshabab vowed to kill clan representatives and others for their involvement in the parliamentary election and subsequently killed dozens of electoral delegates in Mogadishu and other cities through out the country.
Since 2011, Alshabab lost control of key stronghold towns, including the capital, but still controls large swathes of land in rural areas and constantly continue waging ambush attacks aimed at unseating the Somali government.