MOGADISHU, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- A prominent clan elder who opposed the ban on the operations of aid agencies by an Islamist group was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the central Somali town of Beledweyn, an Islamist spokesman said on Tuesday.

    Haji Daar Hirsi Horshow, leader of the local council of elders, was gunned down in the town market, hours after he spoke to the media about the ban on two international aid agencies which the Islamist Al-Shabaab movement said were involved in"anti-Islamic activities".

    "We condemn the barbaric and vicious killing of the elder and we are investigating it and will punish those who carried it out in accordance with Islamic law," Abdirahim Isse Addow, spokesman for another Islamist group in control of the region told Xinhua.

    Horrow said on local media on Monday that the banning of the work of aid agencies in parts of the country was not "in the interest of the Somali people" and called on the Al-shabaab Islamist group to revert from their decision.

    Addow said that the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) administration in the town will impose a dust-to-dawn curfew until "the perpetuators of the cruel and inhumane murder of the elder are found".

    Fighters of the ICU, a moderate Islamist group led by Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, are in control of central Somali regions of Middle Shabelle, Hiran, Galgadud, and Mudug.

    The group, which unlike Al-Shabaab, is participating in the peace talks with the Somali government. It is opposed to the ban on aid agencies and invited them to operate in areas they control.