A second day of clan based violence has left at least 20 people dead in Somalia's Middle Shabelle region, the Daljir Media Service Desk has learned.
A second day of clan based violence has left at least 20 people dead in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, the Daljir Media Service Desk has learned.
The brunt of the clashes between the feuding clans took place in the settlements between Cadalle and Raaga-Ceele, with the majority of the victims being those from the warring sides.
Regional authorities and clan elders have called for a cease to hostilities, which has fallen on deaf ears as the rival clan militias continue to battle in the territory that straddles the far east in the Middle Shabelle region.
Similarly, the Federal Government has been unable to quell the violence, which has been made worse by the FGS arming of local clan militias under the pretext of fighting Al-Shabaab, with the vast majority of those weapons unaccounted for.
In the early stages of Hassan Sheikh’s presidency, Villa Somalia began arming militias across the country, in which they were condemned and cautioned by many Somalis on the dangers that could arise from this. Abukar Arman, a Somali intellectual and a former diplomat, was one of the first opponents of the government policy of arming local clans, and as he predicted, deadly intra clan hostilities are now rampant, while al-Shabaab watches from the sidelines or raids government troop garrisons with deadly results.
These latest clan based violence in the Middle Shabelle region is a testament to the flawed and rushed decision by the FGS to give arms to clan militias with no governmental oversight.
Daljir Media Service Desk.
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