Mogadishu — Abdirashid Mohamed Irro, the minister for commerce of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, stated yesterday that his government was aware that militias trained in Southern Somalia have been sent to cause instability in Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in Northeastern Somalia.

Minister Irro said that the radical group Al Shabaab, has trained and sent militias to destabilise a previously unwavering region.

"At least 50 regional officials have recently been killed in Puntland by al Shabaab organised militias," said the TFG's commerce minister who hails from the Puntland region.

He urged the authority there and the people to collaborate in tackling the growing menace and added that the flow of fanatical militants to the region was high.

The government in Puntland has accused a cleric, Sheikh Mohamed Said of keeping militias in the mountain range overlooking Bossaso, the commercial capital of Puntland, 1,500 kilometres northeast of Mogadishu.