Thursday May 28, 2020
The young men were kidnapped from Bal'ad District. FILE PHOTO
Mogadishu (HOL) - The bodies of eight young men, seven of them health workers, have been discovered on Thursday after they were and killed in an execution-style slaying in Middle Shabelle's Gololey village.
According to family members and villagers, the eight young men were abducted on Wednesday from a health centre 30km north of Mogadishu by unidentified men who's faces were concealed. Some village residents reported hearing gunshots that afternoon, but the men were not seen again until the next day when security forces and villagers found their corpses.
Seven of the eight young men worked together at the same local NGO, the Zamzam foundation. The remaining victim was a civilian.
Omar Jama, the foundation's director, confirmed the kidnapping to Reuters.
"Armed masked men kidnapped seven of our health workers and a civilian from a health centre run by Zamzam foundation at about 1 p.m. yesterday. We got their dead bodies today."
A family member who asked we not disclose his name due to fear from reprisal said that many in the village hold the Somali National Army (SNA) responsible for the deaths of the young men.
They believe the abduction and subsequent execution of the young men were misdirected retaliation for a suspected Al-Shabaab landmine attack that struck a military convoy on Tuesday afternoon.
Somalia's Ministry of Information condemned the killing and promised to investigate the murders and hold the perpetrators to account for their crimes.
