Somalia president vows to ensure justice is served after minister shot dead by security forces

Somalia's president has vowed to ensure justice is served after security forces shot dead a young government minister after mistaking him for a militant Islamist.

Somalia's security forces have been fighting the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab militant group, which carries out suicide and regular gun and grenade attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.

Officials confirmed minister Abdullahi Sheikh Abas Siraji, 31, was killed by security forces in his vehicle near the presidential palace in the capital, Mogadishu, on 3 May.

It is unclear what led to the mistaken identity.

Born in Kenya's largest refugee camp Kakuma, Abas Siraji made headlines in November last year after he defeated a prominent Somali official to become a member of parliament in the embattled nation's first parliamentary elections since 1984.

The country's new President, Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed, who was inaugurated in February, condemned the killing, and cut short an official visit to Somalia to attend the Minister for Public Works and Reconstruction's burial, according to state radio.

In another Tweet, the president vowed to bring those behind Abas Siraji' s killing to justice.

Former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud also offered his condolences on the social network.

Abas Siraji was the youngest minister to serve in Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire's new cabinet that was formed in March.