Aid worker shot in Somalia

Gunmen last night killed a Somalian aid worker of the UN food agency in southern Somalia, officials said.

The aid worker was shot three times as he left a mosque in the port town of Merka, about 50 miles south-west of the capital, Mogadishu, said Marcus Prior, a World Food Programme spokesman.

He declined to name the staff member because the next of kin had not been informed.

He said the killing happened outside office hours and did not appear to be linked to the staff member’s work with WFP.

“WFP treats this incident seriously and we are shocked and saddened by the loss of one of our staff. This killing only underlines what a dangerous place Somalia is,” Mr Prior said.

He said the man was the second WFP Somali staff member to be killed this year, along with five contracted drivers.