A member of Somalia’s new parliament has been killed in Mogadishu, Press TV reports.

Unidentified gunmen shot and fatally wounded MP Mustaf Haji Mohamed in the Waberi district of the capital late on Saturday. He was rushed to a local hospital but died on the way.

According to witnesses, the parliamentarian was killed near a mosque in the Ali Boolaay neighborhood, where he had offered Maghrib (sunset) prayers.

Mustaf was the father-in-law of former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

No one has claimed responsibility for the assassination so far, and no motive has been determined, but some political analysts say that the deadly shooting was politically motivated.

"They shot him several times and escaped," said Mohamed Adan, who witnessed the incident.

"Mustaf Haji Mohamed was killed by elements that are known for cruelty,” Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari said in a statement.

"We send our condolences to the relatives of the victim and to the Somali people whose cause he served."

"Such acts will never deter us from fulfilling our responsibilities to serve the nation," he added.

The new Somali parliament was sworn in on August 20.

The swearing-in ceremony, held on the tarmac of Mogadishu airport, was policed by African Union peacekeepers.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.


However, MPs meeting in Mogadishu elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new president of Somalia with a big majority on September 10.

The weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab fighters for more than five years and is propped up by a 10,000-strong African Union force from Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti.
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Press TV