Masons Beheaded in Mogadishu for Helping Build New Parliament Building
Apr 23, 2010
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Masons killed for building new Parliament
Residents in northern Mogadishu, Somalia discovered five headless bodies displayed near the Barakat Cemetery on Wednesday.
Two notes were left on the bodies that said: "These men were killed for helping the construction of the new parliament building."
Residents in the Yaqshid district told Tiziano that the victims were abducted five days ago.
"It was shocking, if you saw it you would faint," Abdi, a resident in the area who saw the bodies, told Tiziano.
Residents blamed Al-Shabaab, a fundamentalist militant group that controls most of Mogadishu, for the murders. Al-Shabaab could not be reached for comment.
"I knew Al-Shabaab men were living in two big houses around the place of the slaughter," Abdi added.
"It's very, very disturbing, it's a sharp violation of human rights," Ali Yasin Gedi, the Vice Chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Group, told Tiziano.
Al-Shabaab militants have beheaded dozens of people they accuse of spying for the Somali government over the past two years. The group also uses tactics like assassinations and suicide and roadside bombs; strategies that analysts say are aimed at instilling fear in the population and that recently have led to armed uprisings against the group.
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Tags:
Africa, Al-Shabaab, Human rights, Mason Beheadings, Masons, Mogadishu, Somali government, Somalia
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