Dubai Port World official killed in Somalia's Puntland

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU (AA) - Paul Anthony Fermosa, who had managed Somalia’s Bosaso Port for UAE-based port-management firm DP World, was shot dead Monday in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, according to local officials.

“Fermosa, the head of Bosaso Port for DP World, has been shot dead by a gunman,” Puntland’s Port Administration Ministry said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters, Yusuf Mohamed Dhedo, governor of Puntland’s Bari region (in which Bosaso is located), told reporters that three other people --including an Indian national -- had been injured in the attack.

According to Dhedo, the attacker was killed by port security guards in the immediate wake of the incident.

DP World, a global port operator based in Dubai, has yet to comment on the deadly attack, for which Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group has since claimed responsibility.

According to local media, DP World appointed Fermosa to manage the Bosaso Port office in 2017.