Garowe Online (Garowe)
14 May 2008
Garowe — At least three people have been shot to death in the southern Somali port of Kismayo since Tuesday night, local sources reported.
A lone gunman shot and killed his own brother and wounded a second man after unloading an assault rifle on a crowded restaurant in Kismayo, witnesses said.
The killer escaped before militias loyal to the ruling clan came to the area. People familiar with the case indicated that an undisclosed dispute had been brewing between the killer and his brother, who ran a local business.
In an unrelated incident, hungry people being distributed food aid rushed the trucks and tried to loot the food midday Wednesday.
A militiaman opened gunfire on the looters, killing a woman and wounding three other civilians.
Witnesses said the killer evaded capture in the chaos, as hungry looters unloaded food packages from aid trucks, even though there was a dead body on the ground.
The dead body was later picked by armed guards protecting the World Food Program food aid, who also transported the wounded victims to Kismayo hospital, which has been under-equipped and understaffed ever since international aid agencies vacated the port town months earlier due to insecurity.
Mohamed Bulo Ibrahim, a security official in Kismayo, told reporters that local authorities have captured the militiaman responsible for the fatal shooting.
Kismayo has been ruled by a clan militia since June 2007, when Somali government troops divided along clan lines and fought each other for control of the strategic port.
In recent weeks, Kismayo has seen a rise in shootings and the set up of illegal militia roadblocks by disgruntled clan gunmen.
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