Mohamed Abdi Aware (died 12 November 2009) was a high-profile Somali judge in the northern semi-autonomous

Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...

region of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and a member of its Supreme Judicial Council. He was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

outside a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in Bossaso, capital of Puntland. Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aware was notorious for sentencing many Islamists from Al-Shabaab and other rebel movements as well as tens of pirates and

human traffickers Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

and putting them into jail. It is thought that his murder was in retaliation to some of these sentences. Police reports two masked gunmen shot him.BBC News: Gunmen kill Somalia pirate judge
/ref> He suffered injuries to his head and chest and died instantly.

References

2009 deaths Somalian judges People assassinated by the Al-Shabaab (militant group) Year of birth missing {{Somalia-bio-stub