Somali clan pays over $100K for the compensation of two dead al-Shabaab fighters

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Somali clan pays over $100K for the compensation of two dead al-Shabaab fighters

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - In a heavily secured makeshift structure in al-Shabaab-controlled Kunyo-Barrow in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, traditional elders of the Mudullod clan handed over USD56,000 to al-Shabaab on Sunday as compensation

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An elder of Mudullod clan hands over cash for the death of two al-Shabaab fighters in Kunya-Barrow on Sunday 6 June. (PHOTO/ Social Media).

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - In a heavily secured makeshift structure in al-Shabaab-controlled Kunyo-Barrow in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, traditional elders of the Mudullod clan handed over USD56,000 to al-Shabaab on Sunday as compensation for the deaths of two terrorists last year.

The elders said the payment was a second instalment of a total USD108,000 as a blood money for two al-Shabaab fighters shot and killed while attempting to broker between two rival clan militias in Lower Shabelle a few months ago. Both fighters belonged to the Garre clan.

Pro-Shabaab social media accounts posted photos of Mudullod elders handing over the cash to al-Shabaab on Sunday. Kunyo-Barrow is only 60KM from Barawe, a town controlled by Somali security forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The move, as the clan elders said, was in compliance with al-Shabaab court's verdict, which ruled the payment of USD108,000 in bloodwit.

According to Elder Arabow of Mudullod, who spoke during the event on Sunday, al-Shabaab then called on elders and Mudullod businessmen to make the payment in not more than a year period.

An elder from the Garre clan, Haji Abdullahi said that they received the money from the Mudullod clan elders who honoured the al-Shabaab court ruling.

Al-Shabaab often imposes strict measures on the local clans including imposition of hefty fines for the death of its fighters when killed by clan militias. Clan representatives are forced to pay the fines by collecting cash from businesses in exchange for their own safety and that of their families.

Two years ago, an al-Shabaab court demanded payment USD100,000 from a hotel in Mogadishu after its armed guards allegedly shot dead an al-Shabaab fighter who escaped Somali government security forces in Mogadishu.

Senior security officials in Mogadishu did not comment on the matter on Sunday when they were contacted by Horn Observer. However, as local analysts pointed out, if the security apparatus is aware of the matter, they cannot stop it giving the militant group a pipeline to generate more revenue.