At least 11 people were killed in Somalia’s city of Baidoa in clashes between security forces and supporters of a former al Shabaab leader who is seeking election as a regional president, a military officer and an elder said on Friday.
Authorities arrested Mukhtar Robow on Dec 13/2018 Thursday, accusing him of bringing Islamist militants and weapons back to Baidoa, the capital of South West region where he is running for president.
Robow supporters angered by his arrest clashed with police backed by Ethiopian peacekeeping forces in Baidoa, said Hussein Aden, a military officer in the city.
Baidoa elder Saleh Isak accused the authorities of seeking to install their own candidate as president of South West, the first of Somalia’s seven semi-autonomous regions to hold presidential elections in the coming months.
Baidoa residents said the city had calmed down in the afternoon but was still tense, with most businesses staying closed and residents staying indoors.
“AMISOM’s (peacekeeping force) armoured vehicles came into the town as a patrol. They just went back after they saw it was calm and that some residents blocked some of the roads with big stones,” one resident, Halima Mohamed, said from Baidoa on Friday.
Power struggle
The elections are a critical juncture in a growing power struggle between the U.S.-backed central government and regions where al Shabaab militants retain a presence following a long civil war.
Aden gave a lower death toll of at least six killed, among them lawmaker Abdishakur Bule.
“He died in cross fire between armed protesters and police this morning. Tension is high and we do not know what to do,” Aden told Reuters.
Robow was a prominent al Shabaab leader and group spokesman before he publicly renounced violence and recognized federal authority in August 2017.
His spokesman said, he was beaten by Ethiopian troops, part of an African Union peace keeping force in Somalia, in the course of his arrest.
Ethiopia troops allegedly torture ex-Al Shabaab deputy – Somali media
As the Media outlets and journalists in Somalia are reporting that Ethiopian forces in the country had arrested the former al-Shabaab leader, Mukhtar Robow during a raid.
Citing Robow’s campaign chief, Radio Dalsan, said the former number two of the insurgent group had also been tortured by the Ethiopians after the arrest.
The incident took place in Baidoa, capital of Somalia’s South West regional state. Robow is currently in the race to become president of the region. Polls for the seat has repeatedly been delayed.
The station has also stated that there is currently tension in Baidoa and that all communication had been shut down. The federal government has yet to comment on the issue.
The repeated postponement of the regional polls had partly been blamed on federal government machinations to impede Robow’s political ambitions.
He had risen as high as the deputy leader of Al-Shabaab, a group that continually carries out suicide attacks especially in Mogadishu. They also hold large swathes of territory in parts of the country.
Source Africa news
Herald December 16/2018
COMPILED BY:- MUSSA MUHAMMED
