Tension ran high in the central Somali town of Beledweyne after government troops shot dead a UN official in the town on Saturday, residents said on Sunday.Mahdi Hussein Shekhal, a field officer with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) was killed after armed troops opened fire at his car in Hawatako locality in the town.A police official in the town told Hiiran Online that armed men from the late UN officer’s clan have blocked major roads and closed businesses, demanding the town’s administration to hand over the murderers.No comments could be reached from the UNMAS officials on their official’s murder.
Elders in the town called the killing as a ‘murder-for-hire plot targeting the UN officials, accusing the region’s governor Abdifatah Hassan Afrah to be behind the killing after he had reportedly a personal arguments with the late official.The governor hast not so far commented on the killing which sent shockwaves across the region.The development has raised fears of clan fighting divisions in the region which has long enjoyed diverse clans’ peaceful co-existence and administrational power sharing.