Hiiraan Online

Beledweyne (HOL) - Al-Shabaab militants kidnapped nearly two dozen civilians on Monday near Beerhana and Dhoqor villages, roughly 30 km south of Beledweyne, marking the second time in less than a week that Al Shabaab militants had abducted villagers in the Hiiraan region.

According to local residents, around 20 people, all believed to be farmers from the Hawadale clan, were kidnapped before the Al Shabaab militants traversed back through the Shabelle River, where the hostage-takers are believed to have earlier crossed.

On Friday, Al Shabaab militants kidnapped nine people in an ambush-carjacking in Hiiraan's Halgan district. The Al-Shabaab gunmen took the hijacked vehicle and the nearly dozen people they kidnapped across the Shabelle River to western Hiiraan.

In early December, Macawisley fighters repulsed an attack by Al Shabaab militants on a military outpost near Beerhana. Before the ambush, the Al Shabaab fighters crossed the Shabelle river close to the Dhoqor area.

Al Shabaab has been known to kidnap villagers for a variety of reasons. These kidnappings have been used as extortion, with the group demanding ransom payments from families or clans in exchange for the release of their loved ones. In other instances, kidnappings have been used as a way to recruit new members into the group, with those who are kidnapped being given a choice to either join Al Shabaab or remain in captivity.

Although some of the most high-profile kidnappings by Al Shabaab have targeted foreigners, the group has also targeted locals, including clan elders, farmers, government officials, and even children. The young and vulnerable are forced to attend training camps where they are indoctrinated into the group's ideology and taught how to use weapons.