Al Shabaab executes Somali MP in central Somalia

Al Shabaab has kidnapped and executed a member of parliament of the Hirshabelle state administration.

The execution carried out in Balcad targeted Maxamed Maxamuud Siyaad who traveling on the main road connecting.

Mp Maxamed Maxamuud Siyaad was kidnapped from Jawhar according to statements carried media institutions affiliated to the group.

Al Shabaab has also claimed responsibility of the attack.

Leaders from the Hirshabele state led by the speaker of the state’s assembly have already sent condolences to the family of the deceased terming his death unfortunate.

The lawmaker is reported to have been traveling from Johwar to Mogadishu when his vehicle was flagged down and he has whisked away.

The group said the MP was “abducted through a coordinated operation’ by its fighters in the Middle Shabelle region.

The federal government in Somalia and the executive leadership of the state have not commented on the death of the legislature.

Security along the main road connecting Mogadishu to Jowhar has deteriorated in recent pasts, and Al Shabaab has carried out coordinated operations targeting the Somali army, AMISOM troops, and government officials.

Sunday’s attack comes barely hours after two attacks targetting Mogadishu and Baidoa cities that killed 5 people.

Militant group al-Shabab said it was behind both incidents.
The militants, allied to al-Qaeda, said they were targeting tax collectors meeting at the restaurant and soldiers in Baidoa.

The attacks which come 11 days after the Shabab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Turkish military base in Somalia and are the latest examples of the chronic failure of the country’s security sector to crack down on terrorist groups.

Somalia has been mired in conflict since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other.

Since 2008, the Islamist militant group al Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the central government and establish its rule based on its own harsh interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.
(With input from agencies)