A Somali member of parliament was shot dead Wednesday by unknown gunmen in the capital Mogadishu, the Horn of Africa country's Deputy Speaker Osman Elmi Boqore told Xinhua.

"We have just received the news that one of the members of parliament was killed by gunmen and the government is investigating the sad incident," he said.

Witnesses reported a drive-by attack by gunmen on lawmaker Abdulahi Isse Abtidoon, who was standing in a street in the north of Mogadishu when he was gunned down.

He was rushed to hospital but died on the way.

He was the first lawmaker to be killed since the new Somali government was formed early this year.

Abtidoon joined the parliament in December last year after a power sharing deal between the government and the former opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS) led by the current moderate Islamist president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

The deal resulted in the expansion of parliament to accommodate275 new members mainly from the ARS.

Another lawmaker Aamir Mohamed Shakeeti was wounded two weeks ago in Mogadishu .

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the death of the parliamentarian.

Insurgent groups such as the Al-Shabaab and the Hezbul Islam (Islamic Party) had previously assassinated government officials.

Earlier in the day, prominent clan elders in Mogadishu said they had received death threats from some commanders of Al-Shabaab which controls much of southern and central Somalia .