GALKAYO, Somalia Dec 28 (Garowe Online) - A number of lawmakers in Somalia have fled the town of Baidoa, following the assassination of a MP on Saturday, Radio Garowe reports.

Most of the MPs are originally from Puntland, a self-governing region in northeastern Somalia. But the 27 MPs who arrived in Galkayo on Sunday included a few lawmakers from outside Puntland, sources said.

The Somali MPs were welcomed at the Galkayo airport by Puntland government officials, but the federal lawmakers refused to speak with reporters.

A parliament source confidentially told Radio Garowe that the 27 MPs fled Baidoa, the seat of parliament, after MP Ismail Hassan Timir was gunned down by suspected insurgents.

MP Timir, who hailed from the Somaliland regions, was recently appointed as deputy minister by interim Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, who has been locked in a power-struggle with Nur Adde for months, is expected to resign tomorrow.

It is not clear whether or not the 27 MPs who fled to safety in Galkayo will return to Baidoa, if Yusuf resigns.

RELATED:
READ: Gunmen in Somalia kill a member of PM Nur Adde's new Cabinet
READ: President Yusuf's personal security force leaves Mogadishu

Source: Garowe Online