JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The peacekeeping mission in Somalia says preliminary investigations show a young Somali Canadian peace activist was killed by a stray bullet earlier this week in Mogadishu.
Friday’s statement by the African Union mission says Almaas Elman was hit while traveling Wednesday inside a heavily defended base near the international airport.
The former diplomat was the latest member of Somalia’s diaspora to be killed after returning home to help rebuild the country after decades of conflict. Her family founded a prominent peace center in Somalia and her sister Ilwad was reportedly short-listed for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The AU statement says there was no record of a weapon being fired inside the base at the time and other stray bullets have been reported previously.
It calls the death “heart-wrenching.”