Peace activist among 4 gunned down in Somalia's Puntland state

“The assailants were onboard luxury 4x4 Car as they shot and killed the peace activist while passing through a street which heavily populated” said Ayub.

Abdi Hajji Hussein
Garowe, Puntland, Somalia
April 6, 2011

Armed gunmen on Wednesday shot and killed four people including a peace activist in Garowe, the capital of Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, witnesses and officials said.

The target of the assassination was Mohammed Yasin Isse, an official of the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC), a local non-governmental organization that promotes peace building, a resident of Garowe, Sa’diyo Ayub, told All Headline News by telephone.

“The assailants were onboard luxury 4x4 car as they shot and killed the peace activist while passing through a street which heavily populated,” said Ayub.

She added that at least three pedestrians were also killed and five others injured in the shootout. The assailants escaped.

A Puntland police official told local media that security forces started search operations, vowing that the perpetrators would be captured and put on trial.

Garowe has been a relatively peaceful town in the last few years, but Wednesday's incident shows that insecurity and planned assassinations are spreading like a wildfire in Puntland towns.

The Puntland Development Research Center, founded in 1999, aims to promote peace building and the reconstruction of Somalia. It also hopes to provide Somalia with a democratic system of government, and help in social and economic development.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90043648?Peace%20activist%20among%204%20gunned%20down%20in%20Somalia%26%23146%3Bs%20Puntland%20state.