Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group shot and killed a Maltese man on Monday, authorities said. The slain man was working for a Dubai government-owned port operator in the country’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.
Paul Anthony Formosa, was the construction project manager for DP World, was killed near Bossasso port. Islamist militant group al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack.
Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.
Formosa, 52 originally from Marsascala, was manager at Bosaso for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators where he had worked since August 2017.
Malta’s Foreign Ministry identified the dead man as a Maltese citizen who worked as a construction project manager for P&O Ports. It said he had been “shot dead.”
Somali Spot, in 2017, stated that Formosa had converted to Islam. “Today Paul prayed in the first line of a congregation in a mosque in the port of Bosas during noon prayers. After that he stood up and told the congregation that he converted to Islam years ago and changed his name from Paul to Ibrahim and the people need to welcome him.He also stated because of his converting he faced persecution from his own family.”
Mohammed Abdallah, a journalist with the non-governmental Somali Broadcasting Company, told Times of Malta that Formosa had been well-respected in the business community and had had good relations with the local government since his arrival.
The daughter of Paul Anthony Formosa, the Maltese port manager who was murdered by terrorists in Somalia today, has urged people not to use her father’s death to fuel racist sentiment.
“The migrants who are fleeing Somalia are fleeing from the same people who attacked and killed my father,” the daughter told ONE News this evening.
He said the port remained closed and authorities were still investigating the motives behind the attack, including the assailants’ links with Al Shabaab and rumours that Formosa had been receiving threats from the local community.
The deal of the port was deemed controversial and sparked a lot of issues with the residents who had opposed the deal and staged protests during which at least one person was killed. They said that the deal would increase taxes at the port.
P&O Ports acknowledged one of its employees was killed and three others injured in an “incident” Monday at its operations in Bosaso, 1,100 kilometers (690 miles) northeast of the capital city, Mogadishu, on the Gulf of Aden.
The government-run Dubai Media Office tweeted the information on behalf of P&O Ports, saying an investigation was ongoing. It did not explain the circumstances of the worker’s death, though it said those injured were receiving medical care. P&O Ports did not answer a phone call Monday seeking comment.
The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.
The 30-year concession is worth $336m (£260m) to develop and manage the Bossasso port.
Many DP World has a similar agreement for Berbera port in the neighbouring region of Somaliland, which has declared independence from Somalia.
The federal Somali government declared the deals null and void, accusing the operator of violating the country’s sovereignty. Subsequently, the Somali parliament passed a bill banning DP World from Somalia.
Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.
“The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded,” police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.
“The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians.”
He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.
“I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them,” said shopper Munira Abdukadir.
“I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived,” said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.
Formosa was reportedly shot several times in the head by gunmen disguised as fishermen and died in hospital shortly afterwards. Notorious terrorist group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the killing, accusing Formosa of being in the African country illegally.
His daughter and friends have since disputed this claim.
Based on reports from BBC, The Times of Malta, The Malta Independent, Lovin Malta
