A local lawmaker in the semi- autonomous region of Puntland in northeast Somalia was shot and killed overnight by unknown gunmen, police said.
The gunmen attacked Mohamed Ahmed Jabril, a lawmaker in the Puntland's local assembly, as he was walking in a main street in Bossaso, the region's commercial capital.
"We managed to rush him to hospital but he died of his wounds. The police are investigating the incident and will bring those behind it to justice," Ahmed Mire, a police officer in Bossaso, told Xinhua.
The assailants reportedly escaped from the scene after the attack, which has not been claimed by any group.
Until recently, the region had been relatively stable and had its separate local government since the late 1990s. In the past months, a wave of attacks and bombings hit Puntland, where Islamist rebels were linked to the violence against local security forces and officials.
Authorities in the region support the central Somali government which is battling a deadly Islamist insurgency and reduced to a few blocks in the capital Mogadishu under the protection of African Union peacekeeping forces.
Local authorities have been carrying out security crack downs in main cities and towns in Puntland after a series of high profile assignations targeting government officials, including prominent judge, lawmakers and ministers.
The Islamist rebel group of Al Shabaab is fighting the internationally recognized central government of Somalia. It has repeatedly accused the Puntland authorities of being un-Islamic, calling on the local people to overthrow their government.
Al Shabaab, which is alleged to have links with Al-Qaida, controls much of southern and central parts of Somalia.