The Somalia police force, Monday, released the photos of three young men who were said to be members of assassination units the Islamist militant group, Al Shabaab, has in operation in the Somalia Federal Government capital of Mogadishu.
The three, police stated, are named Shuaib Abdullahi Haji, Ismail Mohamed Aweys and Mohamed Osman Ma’allin Ahmed.
The three suspects were caught after a pistol they wished to use on a female Khat-seller did not fire.
The woman was among the delegates who elected the members of Somalia’s federal parliament, a group of people Shabaab targets to discourage further elections. and to send a message that not only people who worked for the government were targets but their families and those who were related to them in any way.
The suspects said they had executed a number of operations before their latest failed attempt in the districts of Wadajir and Dharkeynley of Mogadishu.
They asked for leniency and forgiveness while in police custody.
Targeted killings have become commonplace in Mogadishu and are seldom wholly reported due to their frequency and number. Hardly a day passes, according to police sources, that at least two people – often more – are not killed in cold blood by Ak Shabaab and Deash assassination squads of three to five members.
