Assassination of Peacemaker in Somalia Seen as National Security Crisis

**Omar Abdillahi Abdi was on his way to Badhan from El Buh village when drones targeted his vehicle, killing him.**

Boosaaso (PP Editorial) — The assassination of Omar Abdillahi Abdi, a traditional leader and a well-known peacemaker (nabaddoon) near Badhan district yesterday, shows the need for foreign countries targeting terrorist areas in parts of Somalia to consult the Federal Government of Somalia and the Federal Member States.

Omar’s son told an interviewer that his late father was on the way to Badhan from El Buh. “He phoned my mother about the trip to Badhan before unknown forces targeted him with three strikes from drones,” said the son.

The attack that cost the life of a peacemaker was not a precision strike, but a calculated assassination. The perpetrators should be held accountable for the death of Omar.

Omar’s son said that his family wants answers from Puntland State of Somalia. Indeed, it is the Federal Government of Somalia that grants permission to foreign operators of drones to target terrorist hideouts in Somalia. Omar was travelling in a vehicle when drones targeted him. People who went to the scene said that “only his bones were in the mangled pieces of the incinerated vehicle.”

**Villagers near Badhan examine the wreckage of a vehicle destroyed by drones fired by an unidentified country.**

Puntland State Government reportedly sent a forensic team to the area, but it should not give the impression that it is either covering up the perpetrators or claiming an investigative role when it is the Federal Government of Somalia that works with Somalia’s partners, particularly the USA and UAE, on targeted assassinations and airstrikes in parts of Somalia known to be hideouts for transnational terrorist groups such as Daesh and Al-Shabaab.

Both El Buh and Badhan are located in Sanaag region. Terrorists have never operated in those areas, nor do the communities harbour terrorists. The assassination of Omar is a national security issue that should not be dealt with lightly. It is an assassination case that should not be swept under the acrimony between the Federal Government of Somalia and Puntland State of Somalia. The assassination of innocent people in Puntland State of Somalia (inadvertently) heartens terrorists.