Al-Shabaab militants kill 12 civilians at a borehole drilling site in Gedo

GOOBJOOG NEWS|KISMAYO: Al-Shabaab terrorists attacked and killed 12 civilians in Gariley village between Bardhere and El-Wak districts in the Gedo region, the southern part of Somalia, on Friday.

According to a local resident who witnessed the incident, the militants killed the 12 civilians among them a foreigner, who were drilling a borehole in the drought-ravaged region before setting them and their drilling equipment on fire.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Mahmoud Abdel Warsame, the mayor of Gariley, confirmed the death toll, saying security forces responded to the attack and were able to kill six of the terrorists while the others escaped.

The recent incident comes a day after the group poisoned a water well in Mahas district, Hiiraan region, resulting in the deaths of two people and ten others hospitalized.

Al-Shabaab is said to be retaliating for the killing of several of its members as the group has faced a lot of pressure from both air and land assaults from the Somali forces, U.S. forces and local militias in recent weeks.