Somali-Canadian Almaas Elman killed in Mogadishu: reports

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Elman Peace is co-led by the wife of the late Elman Ali Ahmed, not his late wife, as it was phrased in a previous version of this story.

Almaas Elman, a Somali-Canadian activist, has been killed in a shooting in Mogadishu, according to multiple reports.

She was inside a vehicle when the shots were fired, according to the New York Times and Radio Dalsan, an independent media outlet in Mogadishu.

The Times report cited the deputy commissioner of Somalia’s police force, who said a probe into the woman’s death was continuing.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada confirmed that a Canadian citizen died in a shooting in Somalia but could not disclose further information due to the Privacy Act.

Consular officials are available to provide services to the family, the agency said. Officials in Nairobi, Kenya, are also in contact with Somali authorities to gather additional information.

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“Our deepest thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the Canadian citizen who died in a shooting in Somalia,” the statement said.

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Elman’s family founded Elman Peace, a well-known humanitarian group operating in Somalia.

The organization is named after Elman’s father, Elman Ali Ahmed, a peace activist who was killed in 1996. The group is led by the late man’s wife, Fartuun Adan, and Almaas’ sister, Ilwad, who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The three Elman daughters and their mother came to Canada as refugees and lived in Ottawa, according to a 2013 report by the Toronto Star.

Radio Dalsan reported that Elman was working on behalf of Elman Peace at the time of her death.

The tragedy comes just four months after the deaths of Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh and her husband.  They were among those killed in an al-Shabaab attack in Kismayo in July.