Somaliland government captures perpetrators of El-Afweyn shooting

Hargeisa, Aug 14:- The Somaliland government yesterday said that those responsible for the killings of five people in El-Afweyn have been arrested.

A press statement from the Presidential Palace confirmed the detention of the perpetrators of this crime. The Vice President of Somaliland, Mr Abdirahman Abdilahi Ismail (Zayli’i ) also offered sincere condolences to the families, relatives, and friends of the five people murdered in cold-bloodedness.

The statement further said that operations are underway to arrest others involved in the incident, and who are still hiding themselves from law enforcement officials.

The Government pledged that those behind the barbaric act of slaying innocent civilians would soon be brought to book.

The Vice President also urged the family members who lost loved ones to remain calm and avoid taking the law into their hands.

The statement did not state the number of attackers arrested, and neither did it mention the number of fugitives still at large.

The arrests follow the Monday incident where five innocent persons were killed, and another five injured in what could be described as one of the most fatal shootings in El-Afweyn town, Sanaag region. The assailants are believed to be from one of the clans which had fought in the area on and off for some years now.

Three women and 2 men, all civilians, lost their lives at one of the fuel stations in the town following the gunfire from a fast-moving vehicle.

The attackers indiscriminately fired into crowded streets killing scores of innocent individuals.

In addition to those killed, according to the Mayor of the town, Abdirahim Yussuf Ahmed, who spoke to the BBC after the incident, two of the wounded five were in serious conditions.