Masked gunmen killed seven Pakistani preachers at a mosque in Somalia's Puntland region today, residents and local officials said.
Residents said the attack took place after early morning prayers at the mosque in Galkayo in the semi-autonomous region, and was aimed at a group of 25 sheikhs who arrived yesterday.
"Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in the hospital. These men are Islamist preachers from Karachi, Pakistan," Hussein Abdullahi, chairman of Galkayo, said. "Puntland forces have now surrounded the area around the mosque to protect the other sheikhs."
Western security agencies say Somalia is a haven for insurgents plotting attacks in the region and beyond. Puntland is a base for pirates targeting the Gulf of Aden, but has been more peaceful than the south of the failed Horn of Africa state.
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 hardline Islamist rebels in southern and central regions, including the al Shabaab group, which the United States accuses of being al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
Puntland's information minister was killed in the same area last week, and residents said today's attack may have been motivated by suspicions the preachers were linked to al Qaeda.
Violence in Somalia has killed more than 18,000 people since the start of 2007 and driven another one 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 neighbouring Kenya last week and pledged more aid for his fragile administration.