'Somali elder's death avenged by blast'
Xamar Radio
A deadly landmine explosion has followed Somali clansmen's murdering a revered tribal leader in the country's northern region of Puntland.

The blast, that killed nine and injured several others, sent tremors through the Puntland capital, Garowe some 18 hours after gunmen took the life of a distinguished elder in the nearby town of Galkacayo, Xamar Radio has learned.

Locals told our correspondent that the incident was meant to revenge the elder's murder adding that he had been helping the region's opposing clans settle their differences.

In the absence of relevant presidential and prime ministerial orders regulating the Somali military's actions, the country's troops do as they please, claimed Somali MP Yusuf Sheikh Mohamed Kheyre blaming President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Premier Nur 'Adde' Hassan Hussein for the country's descent into chaos.

He added that the Ethiopian troops, aiding the Somali army, have as well been running riot after their transfer from the southwestern town of Baidoa to the capital Mogadishu as there is no control over them on the part of Somalia's interim government.

Communal violence and insurgency have wrought havoc with the country since the 1991 deposition of the former president Mohamed Siad Barre who, during the 1977 Somali-Ethiopian war, led an inroad into the hostile territory and came within the 15-kilometer reach of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.