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[Reissued] Suspected criminals arrested in police operation

[Reissued to correct garbled text] The Mogadishu police chief, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid, said that, over the past two weeks, police had arrested "a number of known criminals and seized weapons, including mortar bombs, and recovered nine stolen vehicles". The operation was launched following the release of a UN official, who was kidnapped last month, and targeted individuals suspected of involvement in car-jackings and kidnappings, Qeybdid said. Ahmad Ma'alin Muhammad, better known as "Dishapilin", a national officer of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, was released from captivity on 4 March. "We targeted CC [an area in Karan district, north Mogadishu], where we had information that most of the stolen vehicles were being taken," Qeybdid told IRIN Most of the recovered vehicles and weapons were found in a garage owned by "a notorious gangster who is believed to have had a hand in most of the kidnappings in the city", he said. However, he declined to name the individual, saying the police were still looking for him. "He managed to escape when the police stormed his compound." The police chief said one of the people suspected of being behind the kidnapping of the UNICEF officer was among those arrested. All those arrested were being interrogated and would be charged soon, he said. According to a Mogadishu resident, "there has been a marked improvement in the security situation in the city in the last couple of weeks". Dahir Haji Yusuf, a businessman, told IRIN on Monday that most people in Mogadishu welcomed the police action, but added that there was an element of uncertainty over whether the police would persevere. "We have had police operations before, but all of them soon fizzled out," he said. "Will they keep the pressure up or will they let the gangs come back?" When this view was put to Qeybdid, he said: "There is no turning back this time around." He insisted that the police would maintain the pressure on the criminal elements "for as long as necessary".

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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