Somalia: UNICEF staff shot dead in southern Somalia

(SomaliNet) In the second deadly attack on a United Nations employee in the last few days, a UN children\'s agency aid worker was shot dead in southern Somalia at the weekend, a local UN official and witnesses said Monday.

Muktar Mohamed Mohamoud, who was with UNICEF\'s water and sanitation and hygiene project, was shot in the head on Sunday in front of a tearoom in Hudur, some 430 kilometres (270 miles) southwest Mogadishu, a colleague said.

\"Several men armed with hand guns shot him twice in the head and chest and he died instantly,\" the local UNICEF officer told AFP.

\"He was off duty and was spending time with relatives when he was gunned down.\"

According to witness Abdullahi Farah Mumin, the gunmen shot him, then opened fire into the air and dispersed the crowd before escaping.

On Friday, a World Food Programme aid worker was killed as he came out of a mosque in the coastal Somali town of Merka.

Aid groups said last week that 24 aid workers -- 20 of them Somalis -- had been killed so far this year in Somalia, while more than 100 attacks against aid agencies had been reported. -AFP