A mother whose two sons were stabbed to death in north London within five months of each other has called for young people to stop using knives.
Sadiq Adan Mohamed, 20, died after being stabbed in Malden Road, Camden, at about 22:10 GMT on Tuesday.
He was one of two men stabbed to death in Camden that night. Abdikarim Hassan, 17, died in Bartholomew Road at 21:08.
Mr Mohamed’s mother, Fowsiya Abdi, said: “Please I beg you, people who got a knife, children – stop please.”
Another of her sons was stabbed to death – also aged 20 – in September 2017. Her sister’s brother has also been killed.
She said for both her sons, it was a case of “wrong place, wrong time”, and she fears for her other children.
Mr Mohamed was given first aid but died at the scene near the junction with Marsden Street.
Ms Abdi had heard rumours her son had been attacked before the police confirmed it for her.
The Met Police is trying to determine if the killings of both young men on Tuesday night are linked.
Ms Abdi said: “I’m feeling pain. I can’t sleep even, I can’t sleep tonight.”
Earlier Mr Mohamed’s family released a statement saying: “This is now the constant theme in our community.
“We are made to believe that the police are here to protect us, but how does a mother feel her kids are protected when she has lost two in the same vicinity within months?
“We have lots of questions and need answers. Somebody has to listen to us.”
Neighbour Layla Awod said Abdikarim Hassan was on his way back home from college when he was stabbed.
She said his mother saw him lying on the floor dying after being refused to pass through the police security cordon.
She knew it was her son when she called his mobile phone and heard it ringing the other side of the cordon, she said.
Mr Hassan’s uncle, Yusuf Ahmed, said the teenager came to the UK from Somalia when he was two years old and was the eldest of six children.
He was a student at Westminster College, liked playing football, and was a “good guy” who was “always smiling”.
Following the deaths, additional police patrols were sent to Camden overnight and a Section 60 order – giving them powers to stop and search people – was authorised across the borough until 07:00.
A police spokesperson said murder investigations had been launched but no arrests had been made and “urgent inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances”.
Sixteen people have been stabbed to death in London since the start of 2018. Five of those were teenagers.
Less than two miles away from Tuesday night’s first stabbing – and only minutes earlier – a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in Aldenham Street, Camden. Paramedics took the boy to a central London hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of GBH with intent, but has since been released. No further action will be taken against him.
Camden Police were called to another stabbing on Tuesday afternoon where a man, thought to be in his 40s, was attacked in Kilburn High Road shortly before 15:30. He was taken to hospital by London Air Ambulance and is in a stable condition.
The force has not said if either attack was linked to the two fatal stabbings.
A 19-year-old man who lives near Bartholomew Road told BBC Radio London stabbings were now “everyday behaviour for these youngsters”.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was “desperately saddened” by the deaths.
“I am asking the prime minister and the home secretary to urgently meet with me to discuss how we can work together to tackle the evil of knife attacks.”
Meanwhile Cressida Dick, the commissioner for the Met Police, asked all Londoners to “think about what you can do to help us tackle this blight on our city”.
She urged young Londoners to “stop and think” before carrying a knife.
The government’s Serious Violence Strategy will be published in the next few months, a Home Office spokesperson said.
“Tackling this crime requires a new way of thinking,” the spokesperson added.
