Unidentified armed men have shot and killed an Italian nun working in Save Our Souls (SOS) hospital in the capital, Mogadishu, the Somali news portal SomaliNet reports. SOS is the only long-serving foreign hospital in Mogadishu, operating since the civil war erupted in 1991.
"Militiamen armed with rifles raided the hospital around 12:00am, where they opened fire on one of the nuns in SOS and some of her staff," a witness said.
The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) head of security, Sheikh Yousuf Inda Ade, told local reporters that two men were arrested and are now being interrogated. It is not yet known who was behind the attack. Many, however, believe the ICU is the one which perpetrated the killing. The ICU has ruled Mogadishu since June 5, 2006, when it conquered the city from the Transitional Federal Government.
The nun is the second foreigner killed in the capital since the ICU seized control. A Swedish journalist, Martin Adler, was gunned down in July.
In a separate incident, ICU armed men shot in the air inside a movie theater in Mogadishu, where hundreds of people were watching an English soccer match. The armed men ordered the people out of the theater. One boy was reportedly killed as a result of the shooting.