Puntland police issues public warning of Al Shabaab attacks

Police in Puntland’s Nugal region on Sunday warned of planned al Shabab attacks on several Puntland cities.

General Hussein Ali Mohamud, the commander of the police for the Nugal region, said that they received credible information about an imminent Al-Shabaab attack in several cities, including Garowe, the administrative capital of Somalia’s Puntland regional state.

He added that the group was actively trying to recruit civilians in Garowe to commit insecurity acts. He urged the public to assist security agencies and report anything suspicious.

“Al-Shabaab, having been purged from Garowe following the killing of Sheikh Abdkhadir Nur Farah, are now attempting to have people in Garowe carry out terrorist activities. Puntlanders are needed to monitor people who rent out their homes closely,” he added.

Al-Shabaab killed Sheikh Abdikhadir Farah in Garowe in 2013, one of Puntland’s leading scholars, who strongly opposed Al-Shabaab’s brutal actions. He was killed while leading Asr prayer inside a mosque.

Civilians quickly apprehended the killer, who confessed to being an Al Shabaab member. Another man who rented a house to the murderer was also arrested and charged with the assassination.

The two men were executed in Garowe two months later. Since the murder, the Puntland regional state has cracked down on renting property to unknown people.