Nairobi/Mogadishu, Aug 12 (DPA) Five Pakistani clerics have been shot dead during an attack on a mosque in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, reports said Wednesday.

Armed men entered the mosque in Galkayo town Tuesday and ordered seven clerics to come outside and then pumped them with bullets, Radio Shabelle reported.

Five of the clerics died and the other two were seriously injured in the attack.

The clerics are believed to be from a peaceful Islamic group called the Tabliq, which often sends foreign preachers to Somalia.

The motive for the killings was not immediately clear.

Puntland is far more peaceful than south and central Somalia, where Islamists are waging a bloody insurgency against the weak central government.