Masked gunmen killed seven Pakistani preachers at a mosque in Somalia's Puntland region on Wednesday, residents and local officials said. Puntland is a base for pirates targeting the Gulf of Aden, but has been more peaceful than the rest of the failed Horn of Africa state, which Western security agencies say is a haven for insurgency in the region and beyond.
Residents said the attack took place after early morning prayers at the mosque in Galkayo town and targeted a group of 25 mostly Pakistani sheikhs who had arrived in the semi-autonomous northern region on Tuesday. "Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in hospital. These men are Islamist preachers from Karachi, Pakistan," Galkayo chairman Hussein Abdullahi told Reuters by telephone.