Somali insurgents have killed the head of security forces in Baidoa while the house of the country’s parliament speaker has been attacked.
Ibrahim Maadey was shot dead on Saturday by armed insurgents in Bay Region in the city of Baidoa, 256 kilometers (159 miles) northwest of capital Mogadishu, Press TV correspondent reported.
Shortly after the killing, insurgents attacked the house of Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nuur in Howlwadaag district.
At least four heavy mortars landed near the house and one inside, killing four guards in the house, while 11 civilians were severely wounded in the attack.
Baidoa has been home to Somalia’s interim parliament since February 2006.
A witness to the incident told our correspondent that Mohamed Nuur was not in the house when it was attacked.
The attack comes a day after Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed rejected a call by the Horn of Africa states to transfer the country’s transitional government to Kenya.
Yusuf said what the government was in need of at present was more military backup from African nations in its battle against insurgency.
Organizations such as the Arab League have reportedly refused to help Somalia’s transitional government, saying the government, which is backed by Ethiopian Woyanne forces, is responsible for the death of thousands of civilians in the violence-ridden country.
Yusuf has said in case the African nations fail to provide the military aid, the Somali government would turn to a bigger organization such as the UN.