Minister is mistaken for militant, shot dead
Mogadishu, May 4: Somalia’s minister of public works and reconstruction Abbas Abdullahi Siraji was killed in Mogadishu on Wednesday in what was apparently an accidental shooting, government and police sources said.
In a statement, the government said it was “deeply saddened” by the death of Siraji, the youngest member of the Somali cabinet, who grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp before winning election in 2016 and being named a minister by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
Siraji, 31, was killed when government security guards tasked with protecting auditorgeneral Nur Jimale Farah outside the presidential palace mistook Siraji, who was driving himself in a following vehicle, for an assailant. “What happened was gunfire involving soldiers who had become suspicious of each other, and what happened was very bad, a brother was killed,” Farah said.
Siraji’s life story was widely seen as an inspiration for a country which has suffered conflict and anarchy for the last 25 years. Following the incident, President Mohamed cut short a trip to Ethiopia on Thursda “to participate in the burial”, said Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
President Mohamed, known by his nickname Farmajo, said he had ordered an investigation into what he termed “this unfortunate tragedy”. In a series of tweets the president said he would “make sure the perpetrators are brought to book”, adding that Siraji, who he appointed to his cabinet in February, “was young, diligent and patriotic”. — AFP