Locals said Aden Heydar, the commissioner of Bardale village was bumped off at around 7.30pm of Tuesday night as he walked his house in eastern Baidoa town, 256 kilometers (159 mi) by road northwest of the capital Mogadishu.
The killers escaped before Somali soldiers arrived at the scene. There has been a surge in attacks in Somalia's war-ravaged Baidoa since the Æthiopian troops backing the hapless Somali government captured from the hardline Shabaab movement.
No group has said it was behind the murder so far.
Also in Mogadishu,Somalia capital a man was killed last night by gunnies at Jamhuriyah village in Mogadishu's Karan district, according to locals who spoke with Shabelle Media by phone.
Witnesses said the killing followed after the man refused to hand over his cell-phone forcibly to the gunnies and then they shot him killed instantly.
The administration of Karan district for Somali government was unavailable to reach on the line for comment.
The Al-Qaeda inspired Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
fighters have been carrying out coordinated attacks and liquidations in the capital in recent months however as pro-government troops and AMISOM have successfully taken over several key positions out of the capital.