A gunman has shot dead the manager of a Dubai-owned port in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, VOA news reports.
Mohamad Dahir, a local security official, told the French news agency (AFP), “An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot.”
The Islamist Al-Shabab group has claimed responsibility for the attack at Bosaso port Monday.
“We are behind the operation,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, a spokesman for Al Shabab’s military operations told Reuters. “We had warned him, but he turned deaf ear. He was illegally in Somalia.”
In another development Monday, a powerful blast hit a market in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
“There was a strong explosion at the Hamarweyne market,” police officer Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP. He said “the blast happened in a densely populated market” that is located near the city’s local government buildings.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
Al-Shabab militants, however, have been known to target areas in the capital.