Mohamed Abdi Aware
Encyclopedia
Mohamed Abdi Aware was a high-profile Somali
judge in the northern semi-autonomous Puntland
region of Somalia
and a member of its Supreme Judicial Council. He was assassinated
on 12 November 2009 outside a mosque
in Bossaso, capital of Puntland.
Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aware was notorious for sentencing many Islamists
from Al-Shabaab
and other rebel movements as well as tens of pirates
and human traffickers
and putting them into jail. It is thought that his murder was in retaliation to some of these sentences. Police reports two masked gunmen shot him. He suffered injuries to his head and chest and died instantly.
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
judge in the northern semi-autonomous Puntland
Puntland
Puntland , officially the Puntland State of Somalia , is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998....
region of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and a member of its Supreme Judicial Council. He was assassinated
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
on 12 November 2009 outside a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in Bossaso, capital of Puntland.
Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aware was notorious for sentencing many Islamists
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
from Al-Shabaab
Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen , more commonly known as al-Shabaab , is a terrorist group of militants fighting to overthrow the government of Somalia. As of 2011, the group controls large swathes of the southern parts of Somalia, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia law...
and other rebel movements as well as tens of pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
and human traffickers
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and putting them into jail. It is thought that his murder was in retaliation to some of these sentences. Police reports two masked gunmen shot him. He suffered injuries to his head and chest and died instantly.