MOGADISHU (KAAB TV) – Two young businessmen were shot dead and two others injured in Mogadishu’s Hodan district on Wednesday, marking another violent incident linked to the militant group Al-Shabaab’s campaign against local businesses in the capital.
This assassination, carried out in broad daylight, is the eighth such killing in two weeks.
From Dayniile to Yaaqshiid and Huriwaa, Al-Shabaab has targeted business owners who defied their ban on CCTV cameras, which the government has mandated for security purposes.
Authorities have been enforcing the installation of surveillance cameras in business premises, threatening owners with fines or arrest if they fail to comply.
However, Al-Shabaab has warned that those who cooperate with these orders will face deadly consequences.
A business owner, speaking to Kaab TV, expressed deep concern over the growing dilemma, saying, “We are caught between government detention and Al-Shabaab assassinations.”
On Wednesday, a group of women gathered outside the hospital where the bodies of the slain businessmen were taken.
They demanded that the government either provide better protection or stop issuing “nonsense orders that put people at risk.”
One woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said, “We don’t know who killed them, but we know they were targeted and murdered inside their shop.”
Eyewitnesses reported that Al-Shabaab gunmen entered the shop in the Zone-K neighborhood, shooting and killing two of the businessmen on the spot while injuring two others before fleeing the scene.
“Is our life worth the risk of CCTV? Why are we doing this if the government cannot protect us?” questioned another distressed business owner.
Just last week, four business owners were killed in Dayniile, followed by two more in Yaaqshiid, further fueling concerns among the local business community about the escalating violence.
In August, Al-Shabaab set fire to two major markets in Ceelasha and Tabeelaha, destroying property and causing millions of dollars in losses.
Community leaders attributed the attacks to the installation of CCTV cameras, which Al-Shabaab opposes.
The militant group also targeted a section of Bakaro Market, the largest in the city, with similar motives.
The wave of violence has left business owners in Mogadishu fearful, as operating in the city becomes increasingly perilous.