Somali troops from the custodial corps opened fire on a vehicle carrying Somalia’s former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud at a security checkpoint outside the Banaadir regional courthouse in Mogadishu according to local media.
A report by the Mogadishu based TV station Goobjoog revealed that a contingent of the custodial corps manning a checkpoint outside the courthouse indiscriminately opened fire on the former president’s convoy, forcing guards of Somalia’s ex president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud to return fire, sparking a short but intense skirmish.
Former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud was reportedly unharmed during the shootout due to his four door sedan being bullet proof. There where no initial reports of deaths or injuries that arose as a result of the clashes. The former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud was reportedly returning from a reconciliation conference prior to coming under fire.
Its not clear why the custodial corps opened fired on the former president, with many viewing it as an assassination attempt targeting Somalia’s former head of state. The current ruling government of Somalia is yet to address the attempts made on the life of former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud by there troops.
This latest attack on Hassan Sheikh Mahamud comes six weeks after clashes erupted in Mogadishu between opposition forces and government troops, following an attempted raid on former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud’s residency in the Miranyo neighborhood in northern Mogadishu in late April, which was preceded by another attack on former president Hassan Sheikh Mahamud and his predecessor Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on the night of February 18th.
Fears are growing in many parts of the country, particularly the capital Mogadishu that this latest escalation by government security forces (custodial corps) will reignite a full blown war and plunge Somalia into another round of epic proportions that hasn’t been witnessed since the early 90’s.
Halgan Media
