(Photo: Cihan)

Sadettin Doğan, a Turkish Airlines (THY) security chief who was shot dead in an armed assault in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu on Tuesday was laid to rest on Thursday.

Doğan was killed on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a car carrying THY officials in Mogadishu. He was chief of security for THY in the Somali capital, a city still beset by unrest and disorder amid sporadic attacks by al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab, and responsible for the safety of the company’s employees there.

On Thursday, Doğan’s body was taken from the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) and brought to the Selimiye Mosque in İstanbul’s Üsküdar district, where a military ceremony was held in his honor. Later, Doğan was buried at the Çengelköy Graveyard.

Doğan’s relatives, friends and colleagues attended the funeral. His mother had a nervous breakdown.

In July 2013, a car loaded with explosives rammed into an office housing Turkish Embassy staff in the Somali capital, killing three people. Al-Shabaab rebels claimed responsibility for the attack. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the THY team.

Somalia is attempting to rebuild itself after two decades of civil war and lawlessness triggered by the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991.

The fragile government is supported by international donors hoping to prevent the country from becoming a haven for extremist militants in East Africa.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the first non-African leader to visit Somalia in nearly 20 years when he traveled there in 2011.

Turkey is a key ally of the Somali government. It was a major contributor to the humanitarian aid effort at the height of the 2011 famine and Ankara continues to build hospitals and dispatch aid across Somalia.

Source: Today’s Zaman