Al-Shabab terrorists shot and killed a Maltese man on Monday who worked for a Dubai government-owned port operator in Somalia, authorities said. The attack on Dubai’s P&O Ports comes as the United Arab Emirates has rapidly expanded its port operations and military presence in Somalia and across East Africa.
Al-Shabab said it targeted the man in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region because he worked for a company that “occupies” the area’s Bosaso Port, likely a worrying sign for the Emiratis amid their expansion.
P&O Ports acknowledged one of its employees was killed and three others injured in an “incident” on Monday at its operations in Bosaso, 1,100 kilometres (690 miles) northeast of the capital city, Mogadishu, on the Gulf of Aden.