Somalia’s youngest minister killed in mistaken exchange of fire

Mogadishu: Somalia’s Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji was shot dead near the presidential palace in Mogadishu on Wednesday evening, local media reported quoting police.
The incident took place when Auditor General Nur Farah’s bodyguards opened fire on a car carrying the 31-year-old minister near a checkpoint close to the presidential palace, said police captain Mohamed Hussein.
According to media reports, there was an exchange of gunfire after Siraji’s bodyguards had falsely identified Farah, who was traveling in a bulletproof vehicle, as a threat.
Several of Siraji’s bodyguards were wounded in the incident, Hassan said, adding that another minister who was in the car with Siraji survived.
Speaking to the Voice of America (VOA), Auditor General Farah said he was “shocked” to learn that Minister Siraji had been shot dead. He said both the minister’s security and his security had an exchange of fire.
The auditor general’s security had suspected that the minister’s vehicle may have been trailing them unaware it was carrying Siraji.
Siraji was a former refugee who grew up in Dadaab camp in Kenya, home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis who fled drought and civil war. He became Somalia’s youngest MP last November after defeating a former minister.
AB/IINA