30 December 2017•Update: 31 December 2017
By Hassan Istiila
MOGADISHU, Somalia
A total of 42 soldiers were arrested Saturday for raiding the home of a senator who claimed that it was done by troops “trained by the U.A.E.”
Somali security forces raided the residence of Senator Abdi Hassan Awale Qaybdiid in capital Mogadishu.
Abdi Qaybdiid was not at home during the raid.
The senator told the media that soldiers rammed through his front door and forced their way inside and conducted an illegal search.
“Government forces ‘unlawfully’ entered my residence. They rammed the front door with a vehicle, then armed guards, disarmed the guards inside.
“I was at work when this happened," he added.
Somali President Mohamed Abdulahi Farmaho ordered chief of Somali army to investigate the attack on the senator’s house.
The president vowed that anyone involved would be brought to justice.
The government later announced that 42 soldiers, including two had been detained in connection with the attack on the house of senator, according to state-run media SONNA.
Minister of Information Abdirahman O. Osman said an investigation has been launched to find out the reason behind the raid on the senator’s house.
“I was called by the head of National Intelligence and Security Agency [NISA] in Mogadishu, Saadiq John, who informed me that troops trained by the U.A.E. were responsible for the raid,” Abdi Qaybdiid told the media.
On Oct. 17, Somali security forces arrested a former presidential candidate Abdirahman Abdishakur during a raid on his home in Mogadishu but later released him.
