Aid workers being shot, killed in Somalia

(CNN) -- Three aid workers have been shot over the last day in Somalia, two of them fatally, Somali media reports said.

The first fatality was a Somali, Mohamed Mohamud Qeyre. He was the deputy director of the group Daryeel Bulasho Guud (DBG), funded by a German company and affiliated with the group Bread for the World.

Qeyre was shot in the Somali capital of Mogadishu Friday night in what appeared to be a targeted attack, the reports said. He was shot by three gunmen outside the facility where aid distribution is coordinated. The gunmen may have been staking out the facility waiting for Qeyre to exit.

The head of DBG, in Nairobi, Kenya, said he will suspend all aid operations in Somalia for the time being.

The second fatality was a member of the Sodra nongovernmental organization, which is helping with humanitarian efforts in Somalia. Officials said it appears that Ali Baashi was also specifically targeted by gunmen.

Earlier this week, the World Food Program said a truck driver carrying its relief supplies was killed -- the fourth WFP driver killed in Somalia this year. Ahmed Saalim was shot when fighting broke out between convoy escorts and militiamen at a checkpoint, the U.N. aid agency said.

A growing percentage of the Somali population has become dependent on humanitarian aid. A severe famine swept the nation in 1991-1993, devastating crops, killing up to 280,000 people and displacing up to 2 million, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The situation has been exacerbated by drought, continual armed conflicts in central and southern Somalia and high inflation on food and fuel.

Journalist Mohamed Amin contributed to this report.

All About United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees • Somalia • United Nations World Food Programme