"I am shocked to hear seven Somali health personnel and a civilian were abducted from an NGO-run health clinic located in Gololey village, Balcad District, Middle Shabelle region on 27 May. All eight were subsequently killed. Preliminary information indicates that they suffered brutal deaths," Mr. Adam Abdelmoula said.

Somali national army on Wednesday executed eight young professionals in a cold blooded manner following an al-Shabaab attack in Gololey village in Bal'ad District, Middle Shabelle region, relatives and eyewitnesses said.


The soldiers from the national military raided the small agricultural village on Wednesday and took the eight young men working at the village's community health centre, according to Bashir Mohamed Ali, a resident in Gololey.  They were all shot dead and their bodies dumped in a nearby bush.

"The military men who were masked abducted the young health workers yesterday [Wednesday]. All the eight men were shot in a cold blooded manner. This is a massacre against Gololey community," Bashir said "We had retrieved the bodies from the nearby bush. They were shot on the head.”

Residents and elders told Horn Observer that prior to the military raid on Wednesday, the Somali military came under a bomb attack by the al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabaab killing unknown number of soldiers.

In his statement, Mr. Abdelmoula extended his  deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

"Attacks against medical facilities and personnel are unacceptable and a breach of international humanitarian law and any common decency. It is unbelievable that this attack comes at a time when Somalia is grappling to contain a triple threat of a pandemic, flooding and the resurgence of desert locusts," Mr. Abdelmoula adds "I strongly condemn this outrage and await a thorough and transparent investigation.”

- Horn Oberver -