Thursday, September 22, 2011
Security officials in town of Galkayo, situated about 750 kilometers (466 miles) north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, told Press TV on Wednesday that Abdurahman Ahmed Kudha was shot late on Tuesday by gunmen in front of his house.
Police cordoned off the area following the incident, and launched a search operation to arrest the perpetrators.
More than 76 people have so far been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination and are being interrogated by Puntland police officials.
Fighting between political and clan groups is recently on the rise in Somalia's northern breakaway state of Puntland.
Puntland's authorities in January announced that they had broken with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) based in Mogadishu.
The measure was taken after Mogadishu government issued a statement saying that the TFG "does not represent Puntland in international forums" and that the United Nations Political Office for Somalia should "reconsider its position and support for the TFG at the expense of other Somali stakeholders."
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.