Reports from Dolow District in Gedo region confirm that an airstrike was reportedly carried out using a drone which specifically targeted the house of former Commander of Custodial Corps of Somalia’s Federal Government, General Mahad Abdurahman Shub. The airstrike took place at 11:40 last night while General Shub’s house was attacked with a single missile. Sources in Dolow said to be close to the scene reported that the missile struck the area outside or the courtyard of the house, while General Shub was inside a stone section of the building. According to these sources, General Mahad Abdirahman Shub escaped the airstrike, but he sustained injuries together with several members of his family who were in the house at the time the airstrike occurred. General Shub was later taken to a health facility in Dolow District.
Reports further indicate that he will be transferred to Dolow, particularly the Ethiopian side in order to receive further medical treatment. No group has so far claimed responsibility for carrying out the airstrike. A lawmaker, Abdurahman Odowaa, has condemned the airstrike with the strongest possible terms, stating that if the Somali Federal Government is involved, it could be an unlawful move that poses a threat to Somali statehood. He further warned that the incident could be used to fuel the political conflict and the widening rift between the factions contending over the country’s political affairs.
Furthermore, the State-Minister for environment and climate change, Mr. Adan Aw-Hirsi, disclosed that if it is reaffirmed that the airstrike targeted General Shub’s house, further accusing Villa Somalia of planning the airstrike to be carried out. He went on to say that the airstrike was carried out using a drone belonging to a foreign entity, and that could create a new, and dangerous situation. The State-Minister took an example of a possibility in the future where a regional administration would use a drone belonging to a foreign country in order to target an embassy in Mogadishu or a place where Somali citizens reside.
