Yusuf Ahmed Sarinle was a general and, at the time of his death, the top security official of the embattled government of Somalia, functioning as the police chief of Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War. He was murdered in his home by unknown gunmen on January 23, 2005,[1] the possible target of assassination by militia members.
Sarinle was a supporter of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and also favored bringing African Union peacekeeping troops to the country.[2]
A few days before his murder, an Italian colonial cemetery had been destroyed by militiamen,[3] and Sarinle had been investigating the incident.[4] According to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, "Sarinle was strongly opposed to militant Islamists, and many believe that Islamists were behind his cold-blooded murder."[5]
Several other high-ranking Somali police officials were also assassinated at that time,[6] and after Sarinle's death, the Islamists took control of Mogadishu.
References
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"Unicef Somalia Monthly Review". reliefweb.int. OCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. January 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
In Mogadishu, General Yusuf Ahmed Sarenle, the commander of the police force of the Transitional National Government (precursor to the current Transitional Federal Government) was shot dead at his house in Harmar Bile section of Wardigley district in Mogadishu early in the morning of 23 January. The killing was the latest in a string of attacks that have targeted senior military and police officials in Mogadishu.
, - ^ Human Rights Status Report: The Somali Situation. The Hague: Oxfam Novib.
- ^ "Italy outrage at destroyed graves: The Italian government has condemned the destruction of an Italian colonial cemetery by militiamen in the Somali capital, Mogadishu". BBC News. January 20, 2005. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ "Mogadishu police chief shot dead". BBC News. January 23, 2005. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ "Fighting on: Pro-Western warlords and militant Islamist militias first battle for control of the Somali capital Mogadishu and then hurriedly sign a ceasefire". Al-Ahram. May 24, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ "Somali Police Chief Assassinated". Voice of America. Retrieved January 14, 2017.