Unidentified gunmen have shot and killed one of the police officers of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Qardo town in north of Somalia, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Sunday.

Locals said that the deceased officer was called Haykal Ali Hirat adding that the killing action was committed by a masked men armed with pistols and escaped.

A freelance journalist in Qardo town told Shabelle radio that the police officer of Puntland administration was murdered in the town by gunmen who lastly escaped after committing the killing action happened in Qardo town in Bari region.

It is unclear the reason of the killing so far and it is part of the insecurity situations increasing in parts of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north Somalia.