Somali Militiamen Seize Heavy Weapons after Looting Convoy

At least five people were killed when militiamen ambushed a convoy in central Somalia and seized heavy weapons, the local government and residents said on Tuesday, seven months after a decades-long arms embargo was lifted. The convoy was travelling on Monday with a security escort near the town of Abudwaq when militiamen from a local clan attacked and overpowered security forces, four residents told Reuters. They said the arms, which included machine guns, anti-aircraft weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, originated in neighbouring Ethiopia. … Rashid Abdi, an analyst with the Sahan Research think-tank, called the incident “the single most serious incident of arms proliferation in central Somalia” and said some of the weapons would likely be bought by al Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate. (The East African)