Two aid workers killed in Somaliland

Two aid workers working for the German development agency (GTZ) in the self-declared republic of Somaliland were killed when their car was ambushed on the road between the capital Hargeysa, and the port town of Berbera, a local journalist in Hargeysa told IRIN on Monday.

The two, a Kenyan and a Somali, were killed on Friday by unknown gunmen, who also wounded a German colleague and a policeman travelling with them as their security escort, said the journalist. Police, he added, said they had apprehended five men, "who are now in a Hargeysa prison where they are being interrogated". They were arrested in the village of Dhokhoshey, some 430 km east of Hargeysa, he added.

It was not yet clear what the motive for the killings was, "but police investigations are in high gear", said the journalist. "There is a suspicion that this group may have had a hand in the killings of other expatriates last year, but we will know for sure after the police release their report," he added.

Last year, two British teachers and a well-known Italian aid worker, Dr Annalena Tonelli, were also killed in Somaliland by attackers yet to be identified.

The Somalia Aid Coordination Body (SACB) comprising donors, UN agencies and NGOs working in Somalia said in a statement that it was "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of two GTZ employees". It said the SACB "condemns these murders in the strongest possible terms and expresses deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims' family and friends".

"The SACB sees this most recent tragedy as a continuing serious deterioration in security focused on international aid workers in Somalia. The safety of humanitarian aid workers is imperative and such incidents cannot be tolerated. The SACB expects the Somaliland Administration to do everything necessary to bring the perpetrators to justice," the statement added.