A ministry of finance official has been shot dead in the northeastern port city of Bosaso in Puntland on Tuesday.
The official, Saleban Ahmed Shire was shot in the head in the city centre in a broad daylight by armed assailants suspected to be Daesh/ISIS militants, according to witnesses who requested anonymity for fear of their safety.
“Two gunmen attacked Saleban and shot him in the head before fleeing the scene,” one eyewitness told Horseed Media.
Separately, a member of Puntland security forces was also gunned down in Bosaso this week, according to the eyewitnesses, who reported that the killers have managed to escape from the crime scene without being spotted by the police.
There was no immediate comment from the Puntland administration on the two incidents amid a rise of targeted assassinations by the militant group.
In the past few years, Puntland has seen an increased number of targeted assassinations against key police officers, tax collectors and intelligence officers in apparently retaliatory attacks for the government’s offensive against al-Shabaab and the Islamic State group known as ISIS hideouts in the mountainous region of Bari.
The killings come following detention by Puntland forces against several suspected al-Shabaab militants during an operation in Bosaso city that has been hit by attacks from the militant groups.
HORSEEDMEDIA
