MOGADISHU (AFP) - Gunmen killed a doctor working with a US charity and his driver in southern Somalia, officials and residents said Thursday, highlighting the continuing insecurity in the shattered nation.

Mohamed Muse Ali, 40, a doctor with the International Medical Corps (IMC) was slain late Wednesday in El-Berde, about 400km northwest of the capital Mogadishu, they said.

"He was returning to his house from office when armed men shot him," Mohamed Ahmed, an IMC officer in the nearby Hodur township, told AFP by telephone.

He said Ahmed said Ali, who was buried early Thursday, might have been a victim of an inter-clan feud in the region.

"We are not sure why he was killed, but I think it was retaliation for previous inter-clan feuds," he said. Residents said the gunmen also shot the driver as he tried to protect the aid worker.

"Three men armed with AK 47 rifles stopped the doctor in town and one of them shot him twice. His driver, Lel Idris, was also shot by another gunman while trying to protect the doctor," said Hassan Sheik Ali, a resident.

It was not immediately clear whether the driver was an IMC employee. Source: AFP