Suspected insurgents shot dead a top elder from Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi’s clan overnight on Saturday in Mogadishu, a spokesperson for the premier’s office said.
”May Allah bless him, Moalim Harun Moalim Yusuf was one of the prominent Somali clan chiefs and he was killed by two men armed with pistols as he returned from evening prayers,” Abdullahi Mohieddin Odka said.
”He died instantly,” the spokesperson added.
The elder was the chief negotiator for the Mudulod, one of the most important clans in Mogadishu.
One of the victim’s neighbours, Ali Yusuf Ga’al, said large numbers of mourners spent the night at the clan leader’s house to pay their respects.
An Agence France-Presse correspondent in the restive Somali capital said it was the first time in years a clan elder of Moalim Yusuf’s rank had been assassinated in Mogadishu.
Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops earlier this year defeated an Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country.
Since they wrested back control of Mogadishu in April, insurgents have switched to guerrilla tactics, carrying out daily hit-and-run shootings, roadside bomb and grenade attacks against government targets. — Sapa-AFP