
Two Somali government soldiers were shot and killed on Thursday afternoon in the capital city of Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.
The deceased soldiers were traveling by minibus through Bakara market when they were gunned down by men armed with pistols, according to Faisa Hussein, a clothes seller in the capital Mogadishu.
Hussein told The Messenger Africa that she saw two men wearing military uniforms hit several times in the head and chest and dead on the ground.
“I ran away when I heard gunshots but when I returned and looked at the soldiers, I recognized that they are dead,” she added.
In a phone interview, Police officer Ahmed Nor Mohamed said that the killers had immediately escaped from the crime scene but a manhunt was ongoing. “We arrived at the scene of the shooting spot and carried the bodies of the soldiers into Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the capital,” Mohamed added.
Separately, at least three civilians were reportedly killed last night by rockets fired by Kenyan forces into two residential areas in Gedo region, according to Goobjoog News. Kenyan forces have been carrying out airstrikes in southern Somalia against Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants.
By Abdirizak Mohamud Tuuryare