MOGADISHU, Somalia — Masked gunmen stormed a mosque Wednesday in western Somalia, killing at least five Pakistani Muslim clerics in a country already bloodied by an Islamic insurgency and where al-Qaeda is believed to be gaining a foothold.
Authorities tried to find out who carried out the execution-style murders, and why.
The victims belonged to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told The Associated Press in Islamabad.
Some extremists have been linked to the group, but Tablighi Jamaat is believed to be apolitical and nonviolent. Some of its members travel the world, preaching to fellow Muslims.
“They have almost a rule of not discussing politics. They prefer to avoid it,” said Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam Foundation, a London-based think tank. “Their stance is quite conservative, quite puritanical. But they themselves are not . . . extremist.”
Police surrounded the mosque after the attack in the town of Galkayo and said they were searching for suspects. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
The gunmen entered the Tawfiq Mosque right after morning prayers, forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man out, and opened fire, said Ismail Mohamud Hassan, a witness.
“Five of them died on the spot,” Hassan told AP in a telephone interview from Galkayo, 470 miles northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. “Two others were injured — one Pakistani and a Somali.”
Nahar Hussein Gutale, who lives near the mosque, rushed from his home after hearing gunshots and saw several men fleeing and five men lying in a pool of blood.
“They were screaming,” he said. “They were on their last breath when I arrived at the scene. They died shortly after.”
