The village of Buurane situated in the volatile Middle Shabelle province of Somalia has been the scene of intense fighting over the years between Al Aqaeda linked militants and a coalition of Somali government troops and allied foreign forces. However a recent wave of extrajudicial killings and abuses carried out against rural villagers in the region have sent shock waves across the country.

During the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 20th, a mother of four children was executed by AMISOM troops in her home, which was later followed by a violent assault on a pregnant women in the vicinity of the same village that left the victim injured and bed ridden.

A village elder that witnessed the slaying who we’ll call Guled Omar due to confidentiality purposes reveals foreign forces hailing from the Burundian contingent of the AU mission to Somalia, commonly referred to as AMISOM carried out a gruesome killing in the village of Buurane.

As revealed by Guled, AMISOM forces routinely engage in foot patrols in the area and local villagers tend to avoid the foreign forces out of fear. However the extreme lengths taken to avoid contact with the foreign forces did not do them any good on that day.

The Burundian troops where patrolling on foot at 7:30am local time, when an explosive device believed to be an IED buried on the side of the road detonated. The initial blast didn’t kill or wound any of the AMISOM-Burundi troops, yet the troops where enraged and what followed next is a gruesome chain of events that left a mother of four dead in her home.

According to Guled, the AMISOM forces came bursting into the village (Buurane) and began attacking one of the homes in Buurane. Upon bursting into the home, a women was shot dead execution style and left lifeless in a pool of blood.

The women that was executed by AMISOM forces has been identified as Guura Xussen Tuure. Following the brutal slaying of Gurra Xussen Tuure, the AMISOM forces exited the home and upon leaving the home they opened fire on a water well in the village, which broke a tube connected to the water well that was being used by local villagers for a number of years.

Relatives of Guura Xussen Tuure who we reached out to later that day following her murder reveal Guura made a living from selling goats. She was struggling to get by and spent much of her time raising her four young children, whose father was killed in crossfire between Al Shabaab fighters and Somali government troops a few years back.

The reign of terror that engulfed the village of Buurane didn’t end with the brutal slaying of Guura Xussen Tuure. Following the gruesome killing, residents in the village began burning tires and protesting over the murder of Guure Xussen Tuure. The situation took another turn, when many villagers began blocking the main road outside the village, which prevented a group of AMISOM convoys from passing through.

The large crowds began chanting Anti AMISOM slogans and denouncing the brutal execution of Guura Xussen Tuure. Several AMISOM soldiers exited there military convoys and began attacking peaceful protesters. One of those victims was a pregnant women named Maryam Maxamed Xassan who is a family member of Guura Xussen Tuure.

According to eye witnesses and village elders that include Guled Omar, the AMISOM forces began violently beating Maryam Maxamed Xassan with there AK-47 assault rifles for a number of minutes. Many of the protesters fled, while others stood by screaming. After the violent assault demonstrators at the scene carried Maryam Maxamed Xassan back to her home in Buurane village.

Locals in Buurane reveal Maryam Maxamed Xassan suffered serious back injuries and hasn’t been able to leave her bed over the past 8 days since the violent attack. Its still not clear if the brutal beating will effect Maryam’s unborn child, whose due in a couple months.

Eight days have passed since the violent attack on the village of Buurane at the hands of Burundian troops from the AMISOM coalition. The AU mission to Somalia and there international backers from the UN and US are yet to address the latest string of extrajudicial killing carried out by the AU troops they sponsor.

Burundi currently has over 5,000 troops deployed in Somalia fighting America’s war on terror and are one of the several African nations with troops deployed in Somalia. The Burundian troops, just like many of there African counterparts routinely carry out atrocities in Somalia, which are tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Listed below is the English translation of the interview between Halgan Media founder and editor Mohamed Abdulkaadir and the village elder Guled Omar.

Mohamed : Guled thank you for your time this evening. Can you please let us know what exactly unfolded in Buurane ?

Guled : At 7:30am, the Burundians where patrolling on foot outside the village after leaving the nearby town of Mahaaday, when a blast occurred not far away from where they where walking. The Burundian troops than came into our village.

Mohamed : What happened next ?

Guled : The Burundians barraged into a home belonging to a women named Guura Xussen Tuure, than all i heard was gunshots.

Mohamed : What happened after you heard the shots ?

Guled : The Burundian troops walked out of the home, than opened fire once again, this time shooting at a water well. Once the Burundian foot soldiers vacated the village, i rushed to the home of Guura Xussen Tuure.

Mohamed : What did you see ?

Guled : I saw her lifeless body drenched in blood. It was dripping from her head. Thats where they shot here. The goat that was in her house during the time of the shooting even had blood stains on its skin. It was Guura’s blood.

Mohamed : What went through your mind ?

Guled : I felt dizzy from the smell of the blood. I just didn’t know what to do.

Mohamed : After Guura’s murder, can you say what happened next ?

Guled : Yes, many people in the village began coming to the house and saw Guura’s body. Than word spread and much of the village came out in large numbers. I saw people burning tires and placing rocks and metal pipes on the main road outside the village.

Mohamed : What happened next ?

Guled : The villagers began blocking AMISOM trucks (convoys) from passing on the nearby road outside the village of Buurane. There was so many people. The AMISOM soldiers than began attacking some of the people that where protesting. A pregnant women named Maryam Maxamed Xassan was beaten.

Mohamed : Beaten by who ?

Guled : AMISOM. The troops began beating her with there guns and she fell to the floor. Thats when they began hitting her repeatedly on the back. She was pregnant and a close relative of Guura Xussen Tuure.

Mohamed : What happened afterwards ?

Guled : Maryam was picked up from the road and taken back to her home.

Mohamed : How is Maryam currently ?

Guled : She has serious back injuries and has not left her bed for the last 8 days.

Mohamed : After the killing and abuses that unfolded in the village of Buurane, have the foreign troops returned ?

Guled : No. Thank god we haven’t seen sight of them yet.

Mohamed : How often do violent attacks carried out by Foreign forces take place in Buurane ?

Guled : It happened many times. They always shoot at us. Many people have died. Its even worse when the Foreign troops are attacked by Al Shabaab or come in contact with a bomb blast because they take there anger out on anybody (civilian) they see.

Mohamed : Guled, once again thank you for your time this evening. I’ll be in touch over the next coming days and weeks.

Guled : Insha’Allah.

For those interested in more information on these latest spat of extrajudicial killings, please contact us via email at info@halganmedia.net.

Halgan Media Service Desk.