​Somalia: Two taxmen shot dead in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia- Al-Shabaab gunmen shot and killed two Somali taxmen in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, the latest in series of assassinations by the group, Garowe Online reports.

The tax officers were killed outside a barber shop located in a busy market in the capital’s Dharkeynley district by two pistol-wielding men, who escaped the area immediately before the arrival of the local security forces.

“We reached the crime scene swiftly, responding to an attack on taxmen, unfortunately, the gunmen had already escaped on foot. They are now at large,” said a police officer Capt Mohamed Hussein.

Tax collectors working in Mogadishu markets are increasingly being targeted and killed by al-Shabaab gunmen, added Hussein, while speaking to GO’s reporter in Mogadishu over the phone.

No group has yet claimed credit for the latest murder of the policemen, however, area officials have pointed finger at al-Shabaab, who often target security force members in the seaside city.

Mogadishu has witnessed an increase of rampant targeted assassinations, mostly on the elders involved in the election of the current MPs from the militant group amidst tight security in the city in past weeks.

GAROWEONLINE