Somalia: Shebab demands murder of disabled rights activist

The capital of Somalia, Mogadishu (illustration) STUART PRICE / AU-UN IST PHOTO / AFP

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Sharif Mukhtar was shot dead at his home in front of his family. The man lived in an IDP camp in Baidoa, in the southwest of the country. Traveling in a wheelchair, Sharif Mukhtar was a well-known activist in civil society. The Islamists accused him of collaborating with the authorities.

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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Sébastien Nemeth

SODEN, the Network for the Autonomy of the Somali Disabled, denounced a "  brutal execution  ". "  Mukhtar was a major human rights defender, " said the NGO. Any terrorist act against the disabled is an act against all humanity  ”.

The shebabs, for their part, spoke of an operation directed "  against the collaborators of a criminal administration  ", implying that Sharif Mukhtar was an informer working for the authorities. Their act is therefore not a surprise, since the terrorists regularly target people they think are linked to the government, whether they are soldiers, civil servants, foreigners or representatives of civil society.

Several local sources confide that Sharif Mukhtar had worked well with the intelligence agencies several decades ago that, but that he had stopped his collaboration for a long time.

This execution could in any case reflect a certain nervousness of the shebabs, while they are under pressure in the region. Since April 2019, the government has launched Operation Badbaado , intended to reclaim territories in this sector close to Mogadishu. Several cities were taken over, including bases which were used by Islamists to assemble equipment, plan and launch actions on the capital. Defeats that may have put on the teeth a movement already known for its paranoia.

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  • Somalia
  • Shebabs

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