Saturday September 17, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) -At least four people, including traditional elders, were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine on Saturday in the Aqaboy area near the Buq-aqable district in the central Hiiraan region.
The traditional elders killed in the landmine blast were Yusuf Fidow Farah, his son Ibrahim Yusuf Fidow, Mukhtar Haji, and Hassan Hussein Lugayare.
Sources told HOL that the group was summoned to an Al Shabaab court in Buq-aqable district and was on their way when killed.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militia denied responsibility for that attack and claimed a US airstrike killed them.
AFRICOM, or Somalia's National Army, did not announce an airstrike in the region.
The number of civilian casualties from landmines has increased since the resumption of fighting between government forces and their allies against al Shabaab in the Hiiraan region.
Over the last two months, more than 15 people were killed in landmine explosions along roads in the districts of Baledweyne, Mahaas, Matabaan, and Buulaburte in the Hiiraan region.