Santa Monica, CA--International Medical Corps confirms that one of its employees was killed Wednesday in shooting incident near the Somali town of El-Berde, about 250 miles northwest of Mogadishu. A contract rental car driver assigned to IMC was also killed in the incident. The two men were shot dead by three unidentified gunmen as they returned from a medical clinic operated by IMC in El-Berde Wednesday evening.
Initial reports indicate the attack appeared to be related to tensions between rival clans living in the area. Both victims were Somali nationals. The victims were Mohammed Muse Ali, a nurse, who supervised IMC activities in El-Berde, and Leyl Idiris, a driver employed by a local car rental company. Mr. Ali has worked for IMC since 1998.
"Mohammed has been working with IMC since 1998 and he has served his community courageously," said IMC President and CEO Nancy Aossey. "We are deeply dismayed by such a senseless act of violence that has robbed IMC of a dedicated nurse and Somalia of precisely the kind of individual it so desperately needs to heal after decades of conflict. He will be missed by his colleagues and those he served. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family."
The IMC team in El-Berde operates a maternal and child health center and provides other basic healthcare and nutrition assistance to victims of severe flooding in the area. About 20,000 Somalis, mainly women and children, are dependent on our services there. International Medical Corps mourns the loss of both victims and condemns the violence that claimed their lives. We are deeply concerned about the deteriorating security environment in the area and urge the international community to address the situation with the highest degree of priority. This tragic incident is a reminder of what those of us who work in areas of conflict have long known: while the jobs we do are vital to bring hope to disadvantaged people, those jobs also carry significant personal risk.
International Medical Corps has been assisting the victims of war in Somalia since 1991 and was one of the first international relief agencies to enter Mogadishu after civil war broke out there. International Medical Corps is a Santa Monica, California-based relief organization founded in 1984, that operates in 25 countries worldwide.
For further information, please contact: Tyler Marshall, Director of Communications, International Medical Corps, Washington, DC office, 202-828-5155, cell: 240-485-8391.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
