Monday August 26, 2024
Fatuma Ismail, the grieving wife of Ismail Ali Mohamed, speaks to the media in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday, urging the government to bring her husband's killer to justice. Ismail, a father of four, was fatally shot by a Somali government soldier following a dispute over 3,000 Somali shillings (approximately $0.25). The soldier fled the scene, and authorities have yet to apprehend him. CREDIT/ Shabelle TV
Mogadishu (HOL) — A Somali government soldier fatally shot a manual laborer, Ismail Ali Mohamed, over a dispute involving less than $0.25 cents on Friday night in Mogadishu’s Hamarjabab district, according to eyewitnesses.
The victim, a father of four, reportedly argued with the soldier over 3,000 Somali shillings, which led the soldier to shoot Mohamed before fleeing the scene.
Family members of the victim are calling on the government to ensure that the soldier is brought to justice. Mohamed’s wife, in an emotional appeal to local media, stressed that her husband was killed over a trivial amount and urged government leaders to apprehend the fugitive soldier.
“We request the government and the public to help bring the killer to justice. He killed an innocent man who was simply working to support his family,” a resident told the media. “The man was killed in front of witnesses, but people are afraid to speak out. Justice must prevail.”
This incident echoes a similar case in 2022 when a Somali military court sentenced a police officer to death for killing a civilian following a dispute over a cigarette lighter. The officer, Mohamed Abdulkadir Sheikh Ibrahim, was convicted and later executed by firing squad for the murder of Abdifatah Abdullahi Ali, a trader, in Afgoye town, 30 km southwest of Mogadishu.