Mogadishu — A government court judge has been assassinated in Biadoa after gunmen shot him dead, according to reports from there.

The judge, who was murdered, is named Zakariye and his death has also been confirmed to Shabelle by the head of Somali police in Baidoa.

After the murder, security forces were seen cordoning off the area and the commander of the local police force said that they conducted searches in the area where the judge was shot dead.

It is not the first time that government officials targeted and assassinated in Baidoa which was once one of the biggest bastions of Alshabab before it was booted out of there by Somali forces backed by with their Ethiopian allies.