A Somali soldier has allegedly shot dead on Tuesday morning a rickshaw driver at the checkpoint of Bal’ad town in the Middle Shabelle region. The deceased was identified as Ali Taliye Ariif who traveled from Arafag town which is between Mogadishu and Bal’ad.
Witnesses say, the soldier who was alleged for the murder absconded from the scene immediately he killed the driver for undisclosed reasons. Initial reports say two soldiers were also in the rickshaw when the incident happened and were blamed for not reacting to defend the driver.
Regional security agencies have yet to establish response to this matter as the region experienced similar incidents in the last few months. Most soldiers were blamed for shooting drivers after they refused to pay “illegal” money for crossing the checkpoints.
The regional administration had pledged to control and tackle the situation on several occasions by banning soldiers from installing illegal checkpoints in the region and to not force civilians to pay additional money that the constitution does not permit.
