Crime Watch: Casualty figures in March 2015

Despite remarkable efforts in restoring peace and order in the country following years of instability and run away insecurity, wanton killings still dominate the headlines in various parts of the country.

In light of this, Goobjoog News has undertaken an initiative to document killings and numbers of those injured every month under the Crime Watch Project which seeks to promote justice and constitutional rights of the citizens.

We may not be able to document all the killings or cases of injuries due to the scarce resources and sometimes lack of access to the affected areas in the country. Lack of basic institutions in the country such as hospitals, mortuaries and police services which ideally gather such information is also an impediment to getting accurate and up to date data.

According to our records, 74 people were killed and 49 others wounded in the month of March 2015. This is an increase from the month of February which recorded 66 deaths.

The demographic distribution of the victims is diverse including government officials, business people, journalists, religious leaders and ordinary people among others.

The following is the chronology of events in the month of March:

March 1, 2015: One person is killed in Via Liberia Road, Mogadishu
March 2, 2015: Government soldier shoots dead a football fan for Jenyo Sports Club in Banadir Stadium where a football match was ongoing.
March 4, 2015: Security forces in Mogadishu’s Hodan district has displayed an auto rickshaw laden with explosives; they also arrest several men riding on it
March 4, 2015: Former Somalia president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s brother is wounded in Mogadishu. Gunmen had attacked him near his home where he was visiting at the time.
March 5, 2015: Armed men kill one man in Warankar locality in Galgadud region; reports indicate it was a tribal revenge killing
March 6, 2015: Six people are killed in Saho district, Mudug by clan clashes over water well.
March 6, 2015: A traditional elder, Ahmed Adan Siyar is killed in Baladweyn, Hiran. The same gunmen who killed him also kidnap a young man from his home whose lifeless body is later found in Barjo Ento with bullet wounds.
March 8, 2015: A government soldier is killed in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district while leaving his home
March 9, 2015: A government soldier is killed in his home in Baladweyne, Hiran by gunmen, says Colonel Isak Ali Abdulle, Hiran police commander.
March 10, 2015: At least 4 security officers are wounded in an explosion in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle, after a hand grenade is hurled at their moving car
March 11, 2015: Two people are wounded in an explosion from a stationery car at the rear gate of Makka Al Mukarama Hotel
March 12, 2015: Eight persons are killed including thee of the attackers after gunmen storm the headquarters of South West administration in Baidao, 3 more has been wounded.
March 14, 2015: Government soldier kills a peasant named Mohamed Abdi at Gawito locality, just 3 km outside the border town of Balad Hawo
March 14, 2015: Reports from Luuk district of Gedo indicate that a whole family was murdered; they included the father, mother, 4 children and a grandmother. Reasons unknown as attackers flee.
March 15, 2015: A traditional elder, Bashir Xasan Abdulle (Hoshow), his son and employee are beheaded near Qoryoley district. Killers are unknown
March 15, 2015: A top engineer belonging to Hormuud Tellecom Company Mohamed Hussein Goni Gure is gunned down in front of the Hormud premises in Mogadishu with company’s guards looking on. The gunmen flee the scene.
March 16, 2015: A religious school teacher is killed in Baladweyne’s Hawo Tako suburb by pistol wielding gang
March 16, 2015: Ethiopian troops who crossed the border to Somalia at Buuhoodle district of Sool region open fire and wound one female student at a religious school which they raided in a bid to arrest the teacher; the teacher manages to escape.
March 17, 2015: At least 9 people dead and 10 others wounded in car crash between Afgooye and Mogadishu
March 17, 2015: Gunmen kill a disabled woman in Dharkenley District, Mogadishu
March 21, 2015: Two people die after grenades are thrown at them in a local market in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle.
March 22, 2015: Puntland security official and his guard are wounded after soldiers at a road block in Garowe open fire at his car.
March 22, 2015: Two soldiers are wounded after gunmen attack a police station at Zone K Mogadishu
March 24, 2015: Armed men kill a businessman in Abudwak, Galgadud
March 24, 2015: Unidentified gunman kills an IDP camp leader around Zayid statue, Mogadishu. The camp leader is said to have been working with the authorities.
March 25, 2015: Gunmen kill a businessman in Abudwak district of Galgadud, this is said to be a clan revenge killing. Elder Adan Igal in the town tells Goobjoog that the killing was committed by an eight man gang on two vehicles.
March 25, 2015: Armed men kill a young man near Abu Hureyra Mosque in Bakaro market, Mogadishu; they then flee the scene.
March 25, 2015: One civilian is killed in Bulo Sheikh Locality, Qoryoley, Lower Shabelle
March 27, 2015: Gunmen storm the up market hotel of Makka in Mogadishu, where they killed 18 people including a diplomat and wounding 24 others according to authorities and hospital sources. The attacker belonging to Alshabab have been in the hotel for more than 12 hours holding hostages, Somalia’s information minister said the security forces managed to free 50 hostages.
March 27, 2015: Two civilian dead overnight after shelling by Alshabab during security operation to free hostages in Makka hotel.
March 30, 2015: Three suspects are gunned down by the army between Lego and Afgoye districts.March 29, 2015: A Man named Ali Abdi Hidow and his wife are killed in Baidao

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