Mogadishu - An unidentified assailant gunned down a senior local official of the World Food Programme (WFP) late Friday in the southern Somali town of Merka as he exited a mosque, witnesses said.

Abdi Naser Aden Musse, a senior WFP staffer, sustained several bullet wounds in the chest and head just after exiting the mosque, Mumin Abdirahman, a Merka resident, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by phone. Merka is about 100 kilometres from Mogadishu.

"He died in the hospital from his injuries. I saw him with a pool of blood in all parts of his chest," said Abdirahman.

Two days before, Hassan Mustafow, the Somali head of Water For Life, an Italian non-governmental organization, escaped a kidnapping attempt in Merka. His driver was killed during the shoot-out. (dpa)