Residents believe the attacks targeted mosques run by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, blamed for a roadside bombing a few hours before that killed a prominent cleric who was also a senior Puntland government official.

The mosque attacks on Saturday evening and Sunday morning in Galkayo killed a total of six people, prompting local authorities to order all mosques in the town to close temporarily for fear of further attacks.

Somalia has been torn by civil war since 1991, and the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls only small pockets of the rubble-strewn capital Mogadishu in the south.

Puntland has been relatively peaceful compared with the rest of the Horn of Africa country but violence and instability have increased of late. The northern region is also a major base for pirates causing havoc to shipping off the Horn of Africa.

Reuters