Maltese port manager of Dubai-owned company shot dead in Somalia

The Maltese manager of the port of Bossasso, in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland state, was gunned down on Monday, a local security official said.

Paul Anthony Formosa was the manager of company that was a subsidary of DP World, a Dubai state-owned company. 

The attack claimed by the Al-Shabaab group, the Somali Islamist militant group.

"An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot," the official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

Formosa was manager at Bossasso for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World, according to LinkedIn.

One witness told AFP that he heard several shots coming from inside the port and then saw the body of a white man being taken away in an ambulance.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement.

"The attack is part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources", it said.

The DP World subsidiary had signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region.

It lies in a key strategic areas between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The UAE has invested heavily in ports and built military bases around the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

The country is also engaged in the war in Yemen, where the UAE has built up a strong military and economic presence.

Meanwhile, a bomb blast targeted a market in the Somali capital, killing at least seven people.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Al-Shabaab has carried out numerous attacks in Mogadishu.