Al-Shabaab militant attacks mother named Fardowso Ali Osman and her four children who had relocated from Medina district of Mogadishu and resettled in Beledweyn, the capital of Hiran region early in 2016 after armed Al-Shabab militias raided, hurled explosive devices and demolished her residence in Mogadishu. Beledweyn is situated about 335 kilometers away from north of Mogadishu.
However, the family was saved by Djibouti AMISOM troops which has military base in the neighborhood. The fire exchange between the two groups left two Al-Shabaab dead.
M/s. Fardowso said in the first attack, she lost 3 family members. Furthermore, her husband Abdirahman Abdi Omar, fled about 2 years ago due to serious threats to his life from the same group. She however did not say the whereabouts of her husband and whether he is alive or dead when asked.”We left Mogadishu and now we are in hiding because anything can happen to us.” And if you don’t do what they command, they will kill you without mercy.
“My husband was receiving phone calls from a calm voice warning him from recruiting and giving training to the youths about football refereeing,” Fardowso said.
“She also claimed that the militia group was annoyed by her husband’s continued habit of mixing young men and women in the football grounds, more so when the girls were half-necked according to the group and that Red Crescent staff and volunteers including my husband were mishandling Al-Shabaab dead bodies in Puntland.
In conclusion, Fardowso said; she had reported these militias several times to the concerned government security agencies, but nothing has come out and there is nothing sheor other members of the community can do about it. “We leave it to God”, She retorted.
“I have a family to look after and I am fearing for my life and that of my children, but I have no option rather than to proceed hiding though there is noplacefree under the Al-Shabaab control”, She commented.
