Al-Qaeda linked Shebab standing on after giving themselves up to forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia
At least seven women have been killed in “barbaric” attacks in Somalia after Shabab insurgents beheaded a soldier’s wife, prompting revenge executions of women close to the Islamists, elders said Thursday.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabab earlier this week snatched two women – a soldier’s wife and a chef for the government troops – before chopping the heads off both, elders in the southwestern Tiyeglow district told AFP.
“It was horrible, al-Shabab killed two innocent women connected with the government troops,” said Aliyow Isack, an elder.
In revenge, the widowed soldier and his colleagues rounded up women connected to Shebab fighters.
“For the death of the two women, they arrested 10 women whom they said were wives of Al-Shabab militants, killing five before the elders rescued and freed the rest,” Isack added.
Ongoing brutal attacks
Tiyeglow, in the Somalia’s war-torn Bakool region, some 175 kilometres north of the capital Mogadishu, was recently wrested from the Shabab by government troops, who fight alongside the UN-mandated African Union force.
Shabab gunmen still control rural areas around the town and stage regular attacks, but the killings earlier this week shocked many in their brutality.
“Can you imagine what happened? It was a completely barbaric act against humans,” said Mohamed Malim, another elder. “They were innocent women, some of those killed might have been married by force to the gunmen.”
Mohamed Adale Hassan, a local district official, confirmed the killings and said they were investigating the attacks.
Shabab rebels have carried out repeated attacks in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya as part of their fight to overthrow the country’s internationally-backed government, as well as the African Union troops supporting it. – AFP