27/11/08 (B475-B) Press TV / Des inconnus ont tué un militaire somalien de haut rang et son garde du corps à Baïdoa. // Somali military official shot dead (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Unknown gunmen have killed a high ranking Somali military official and one of his bodyguards in the south-central city of Baidoa.

The official, the top military figure in the region, was shot dead in Baidoa, 256 kilometers (159 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu and the home town of Somalia’s parliament.

Moments later, foreign troops poured into the region but the assailants managed to escape. The troops have cordoned off the area, forcing markets to close down, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The ongoing violence in the country has resulted in the death and displacement of countless civilians.

Al-Shabab group, an offshoot of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), now controls most of the country, it has also advanced to the suburbs of Mogadishu and Baidoa, which are controlled by Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).