Mufti of Puntland Killed Inside Garowe Mosque

The autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia had been bombed by US warships. Kenyan air forces struck the breakaway region on January 20, 2007., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Somalia: Mufti of Puntland Killed Inside Garowe Mosque, Terrorist Killer Captured

15 FEBRUARY 2013

One of the most knowledgeable Islamic scholars in Somalia, Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah, who was the mufti of the country's norther n Puntland region, was killed Friday afternoon inside a mosque in Garowe, Garowe Online reports.

Civilians praying at the mosque quickly overwhelmed the killer, who shot and wounded a young male and a woman bystander as he tried to escape. The killer has been detained by Puntland security forces and witnesses said the killer looks like a teenager between 14 and 20 years old.

Sheikh Abdulkadir offered afternoon prayers at Al-Rahma mosque near his house in Garowe and prayed in the first row.

Al Shabaab terrorist group had been threatening to kill Sheikh Abdulkadir and other Islamic s cholars in Puntlan d and Somalia in general for years and Sheikh Abdulkadir was actively involved in advocacy campaign to discredit Al Shabaab group's terrorist agenda in Somalia.

On Dec. 5, 2011, Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman, a learned scholar and colleague of Sheikh Abdulkadir who was also from Puntland, was killed after morning prayers outside of a mosque in the Puntland port city of Bossaso.

Al Shabaab terrorist group has targeted the best and brightest of Puntland society since 2005, killing civilians, including elders, businesspeople, Islamic clergy, and government officials.

The late Sheikh Abdulkadir led an organization that manages thousands of Islamic schools across Puntland and was actively waging a campaign to portray true Islam and discredit the terrorists' misinterpretation of Islam and particularly focusing on educating the vulnerable youth .