MOGADISHU, Somalia (AXADLE) — Al-Shabaab has ramped up its deadly vendetta against Mogadishu’s commercial folks, adding three more to the body count in Daaru Salam on Monday.
Folks nearby said attackers barged into a shop by Ahmed Gurey School, pulling the trigger on three storekeepers before making a speedy getaway.
“Armed with pistols, they gunned down the merchants in their own shop,” a local shared, painting a grim picture of the assault.
The Somali police have yet to toss in their two cents on the situation.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, national intelligence nabbed two local TV scribes trying to cover the story, fanning the flames of angst over media liberty in the area.
Just last Wednesday, young entrepreneurs in Mogadishu’s Hodan district met a similar fate, two murdered and a couple more wounded, all thanks to the group’s militant wrath.
This wave of violence now tallies eight hits in a fortnight as the militants eyes those who snubbed its prohibition on CCTV — a measure the government sternly enforces for safety.
Authorities are pressing hard on businesses to rig up surveillance cams, dangling fines or cuffs over non-compliance, while Al-Shabaab threatens grim consequences for any defiance.
Not stopping at Mogadishu, Al-Shabaab’s terror plays out in neighboring locales. In Afgoye, 30 kilometers away, suspected radicals took down a businessman come Monday evening.
Later, in Jowhar, some 90 kilometers due north, a officer was slain after stepping out of his post-prayer groove at the local mosque, according to sources on the ground.
This spike in bloodshed bears witness to Al-Shabaab’s aggressive campaign targeting local commerce and government edicts, further darkening the mood among Mogadishu’s merchants.
