Masked gunmen killed seven Pakistani preachers at a mosque in Somalia's Puntland region 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 Tuesday. “Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in hospital. These men are preachers from Karachi, Pakistan,” Galkayo chairman Hussein Abdullahi told Reuters by telephone. “Puntland forces have now surrounded the area around the mosque to protect the other sheikhs.” Somalia has been torn by civil war since 1991, and the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls only small pockets of the rubble-strewn capital Mogadishu. It is battling hard-line Muslim rebels in southern and central regions, including the Al-Shabaab group, which the United States accuses of being Al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia. Al-Shabaab angry at killing A Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman said his government had seen the reports from Galkayo, but could not comment until it had more details from its diplomats in east Africa. Puntland's information minister was killed in the same area last week, and residents said Wednesday's attack may have been driven by suspicion that the sheikhs were linked to Al-Qaeda. Local Shabelle Media, however, said the mosque where they were staying often hosted members of the Tablighi Jamaat, a religious movement founded in India in 1926 that keeps a low public profile and says it does not get involved in politics. A spokesman for Al-Shabaab told reporters in Mogadishu that the group was saddened by the killing of the religious scholars. “They were preachers who spread Islam,” said Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage. “We shall get our revenge and get our hands on those who killed them. Let the Tablighi (preachers) also take up guns and fight the enemies.” Violence in Somalia has killed more than 18,000 people since the start of 2007 and driven another 1 million from their homes. In a sign of international support for the Somali government, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks with Ahmed in neighboring Kenya last week and pledged more aid for his fragile administration.
