12 Aug 2009
Unidentified assailants have reportedly shot and killed eight Muslim preachers at a mosque in Somalia's northeastern and autonomous Puntland region.

The lethal attack occurred early on Wednesday when masked gunmen forced a group of eight Muslim sheikhs out of Tawfiq mosque in Gaalkacyo -- almost 400 miles (644 km) northeast of Mogadishu -- and shot them, eyewitnesses told Press TV.

Five Pakistanis died on the spot and three others, two Pakistanis and a Somali, later succumbed to death in hospital. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.

Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991 when warlords toppled the former dictator president Mohammed Siad Barre. Since his ouster the Horn of African nation has been plagued with violence and insurgency.

Meanwhile, Somali kidnappers on Tuesday released four foreign aid workers along with their two Kenyan pilots who had been held captive since November.

The six were flown to the Wilson Airport at Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The Europeans -- two French citizens, a Belgian and a Bulgarian -- worked for French aid group Action Against Hunger.

Aid workers have been the target of assassinations and kidnappings in Somalia where insurgent groups control most of the country. Many aid groups have ceased operations in the Horn of Africa nation because of death threats and attacks.

presstv