by Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Members of the armed Islamist group Shabaab killed at least 18 civilians and destroyed trucks loaded with food aid in an overnight attack in central Somalia, locals and locals reported on Saturday. the official Somali news agency.
The attack took place in the area of Hiran in the semi-autonomous region of Hirshabelle.
“The Al-Shabaab killed 18 civilians and set fire to…several food aid trucks heading for Mahas town last night,” Farah Aden, a local elder, told Reuters by telephone.
The Sonna news agency reported that the Shabaab, an Al Qada-affiliated movement fighting against the Somali authorities, set fire to trucks carrying Mahas food aid and “killed most of the people in the vehicles”.
(Written by Elias Biryabarema, French version Bertrand Boucey)