BOSSASO, (insidesomalia.org) - A group of disgruntled police officers attacked a security checkpoint in the port city of Bossaso Tuesday evening, sparking a deadly gunfight that killed at least two policemen manning the checkpoint, officials said Wednesday.

Abdullahi Said Samatar, the security minister in the self-governing region of Puntland, told local media that the attackers had been apprehended.

“They [attackers] are police officers who came from Armo [Police Academy],” Minister Samatar said during a local radio interview following the funeral of the two deceased policemen.

The security minister admitted that the group of officers who attacked Bossaso’s southern checkpoint were previously employed as guards there, but ordered to report to the Armo Police Academy for further training.

The attack took place a day after reports surfaced that Security Minister Samatar had turned in his resignation papers to Gen. Adde Muse, the Puntland leader. [READ: Puntland Security Minister resigns: Sources]

But government sources who spoke with Garowe Online today said Samatar has rescinded his own resignation, following pressure from clan elders and administration figures.

Bossaso is the economic heartland of the Puntland regional autonomy, with locals saying the checkpoint in the city's south is a major source of revenue for the government.

Critics say rising insecurity in Bossaso, and in other parts of Puntland, is a direct result of the Muse administration, which has lost the public's confidence.

Locals are anxiously awaiting for the January 2009 presidential elections; although some of Muse's Cabinet ministers have voiced growing concern regarding presidential candidates who have already began campaigning for the post.

Source: Garowe Online

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