Quoting Wikipedia:
Yusuf Ahmed Sarinle was a general and, at the time of his death, the top security official of the embattled government of Somalia, functioning as the police chief of Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War. […] A few days before his murder, an Italian colonial cemetery had been destroyed by militiamen, and Sarinle had been investigating the incident. According to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, "Sarinle was strongly opposed to militant Islamists, and many believe that Islamists were behind his cold-blooded murder." [Emphasis added]
Quoting Salad Duhul of the Arab News:
The governor [of Banadir, Abdullah Hassan Firimbi] said the criminals have just showed that they want to ruin the relations between the new Somali government and Italy. "This new government needs financial help from the Italian government. We know that certain people who oppose the new government want the Italian government not to help Somalia. Those criminals do not want the government to succeed. We hope that the desecration will not harm relations between Somalia and Italy," he said.
The Italian ambassador to Somalia, Francesco Lanata, deceased in 2018, provided the BBC with a significantly different explanation as to why the cemetery was destroyed:
"Initially it was an opportunistic land seizure. Land in Mogadishu is going up in value by the day because the government is due to return soon… International outrage after the attack changed its significance, Mr Lanata said. "They realised that, as well as being land on which they could build, it could be used for political and religious reasons," he said. "It can be an act against the Somali government - showing it has no influence on Somali affairs." Those who control the site say they are building a mosque there.
