Gunmen kill MP in northern Somalia, al-Shabaab claims responsibility

A Somalia legislator was killed on Friday in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland by gunmen as he left a mosque after evening prayers, an attack the militant group Al-Shabaab had claimed responsibility.

Saeed Nur Dirir, a close ally of the regions president Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gas, becomes the second lawmaker from the region to be killed in a month after Adan Haji Hussein was felled by a gunshot in the country's capital Mogadishu.

Witnesses said the gunmen hurled grenades around the scene of the incident to cause confusion before fleeing.

President Gas on Saturday condemned the attacks noting that it will not stop his government's resolve to fight terror and establish peace in the region.

"We are determined to ensure there is lasting peace in our state. Such attacks cannot deter my government's effort to development and peace in the region and the country at large," Gas said.

Puntland has suffered a string of attacks in the recent past which the militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.

The militants have been operating in the mountainous regions of Galgala in Puntland, making it difficult for government forces to fight them.