MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The head of the United Nations refugee agency in Somalia’s capital was abducted on Saturday night, and a local peace activist was killed in the central part of this chaotic African nation, relatives and officials said Sunday.

The kidnapped man, a Somali who works for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was taken Saturday night from his home on the outskirts of Mogadishu, said Millicent Mutuli, a spokeswoman for the agency in neighboring Kenya.

 

Relatives identified the man as Hassan Muhammad Ali. Six gunmen broke into his home last night and took him,” said Khilif Aden, a relative who had spoken with Mr. Ali’s wife.

 

On Sunday, gunmen killed Muhammad Hassan Kulmiye, the head of Somalia’s Center for Research and Dialogue, outside his home in the central town of Beledweyne, said his cousin, Nuur Hassan Qole, who witnessed the killing.