UPDATED: Islamist militant group al Shabaab claims responsibility for the killing of Paul Anthony Formosa – Maltese manager of Dubai’s government owned port in Somalia’s region
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Gunman shot dead the head of Dubai government-owned P&O Ports’ operations in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland on Monday, a local government official said, and Islamist militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
Yusuf Mohamed, governor of Puntland’s Bari region told Reuters that two men disguised as fishermen had shot Paul Anthony Formosa as he was going to Bosaso port this morning.
Formosa was managing the port since late 2017, when DP World signed an agreement with the Puntland government to develop and manage the port.
He was killed “in the fish market as he was going to Bosaso port this morning. The men armed with pistols hit him (with) several bullets in the head,” Mohamed said.
Formosa was rushed to hospital where he died of his wounds. One of the attackers was shot dead by security forces at the scene and the other detained, he said. Al Shabaab said it had carried out the attack and accused Formosa of being in Somalia illegally.
“We are behind the operation … we had warned him but he turned deaf ear. He was illegally in Somalia,” said spokesman for Al Shabaab’s military operations, Abdiasis Abu Musab.
A unit of Dubai’s state-owned DP World won a 30-year concession in 2017 to develop and manage a multi-purpose port in Bosaso, Puntland’s commercial capital. The accord was opposed by many residents in protests during which at least one person died. DP World has a similar accord for Berbera port in the neighboring Somali territory of Somaliland.
