MOGADISHU, Somalia – Unknown gunmen, though to be al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab have shot and killed a renowned elder in Somali capital Mogadishu.
The deceased man, whose name has been released as Ibrahim Arif was gunned down by hooded man armed with pistols outside mosque in Jungal neighborhood of Yashid district in Mogadishu, a witness said.
He says the victim was assassinated shortly after he got out of the mosque to his way to home to beak his day-long fasting.
The killers fled from the crime scene uncaught.
Somali police arrived at the area and started an operation over the assassination.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Ibrahim’s assassination.
But, such killings are often carried out by al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab, a group battling Somali army and African Union troops over a decade in the war-ravaged nation of Somalia.
Meanwhile, Somali police arrested two armed men, whom it accused of robbing people in the same district of Yaqshid in the capital after gun shootout.
The suspects were taken into police station for further investigations, according to police spokeswoman, Zakio Hussein.
Last week, the group said it would rump its attacks and assassinations in the capital of Mogadishu, after a suicide attack killed 9 people in Somali capital.
The al Qaeda linked group, which wants to topple the weak-western backed government based in Mogadishu, has been fighting more than ten years in Somalia.
Somalia has been without an effective for more than 20 years.
