( CNN ) -- As ballots were being counted in Somaliland , a breakaway republic in northwest Somalia , officials said Sunday an observer from the electoral commission was killed . The former British colony held a presidential election Saturday . Voters lined up at polling stations under tight security ; more than 1 million had registered to cast their ballots , according to Ise Yusuf Mohamed , chairman of the electoral commission . Mohamed said the polling was peaceful , but acknowledged small outbreaks of violence , including the killing of the observer Saturday near the town of Lasa Anod . The observer 's identity and further details were not given . Mohamed warned the Somaliland people and the three political parties involved in the election not to celebrate results before they are officially declared . Security measures during the voting included a 12-hour ban on vehicles not carrying special permits , Mohamed said Saturday . Voters cast ballots under threats of violence from al-Shabaab , the primary Islamist group leading an insurgency in and around the capital city of Mogadishu in southern Somalia . In an audio message to local media , the group 's leader , Sheik Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr -- himself a descendant of Somaliland -- called democracy `` the devil 's principles '' and warned people in Somaliland not to adopt it . Al-Shabaab militants attacked Somaliland and the neighboring semi-autonomous region of Puntland with simultaneous suicide blasts in October 2008 that killed at least 24 people . In the election , current President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the ruling party UDUD is opposed by two other candidates . The northwestern region of Somaliland achieved independence from Britain on June 26 , 1960 , followed by the rest of Somalia , which became independent of Italy five days later on July 1 , 1960 , and joined Somaliland to form the state . of Somalia . After the fall of Somali dictator Siad Barre in 1991 , Somaliland declared its separation from Somalia , according to the CIA World Factbook . Somaliland has yet to receive international diplomatic recognition as a state but has achieved a level of security and stability unmatched in the rest of Somalia . Southern Somalia has not seen a stable government since the fall of the dictatorship and has been mired in civil war since its fall . The ongoing conflict has resulted in `` an unprecedented humanitarian crisis , '' according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees . `` In May ( 2010 ) , the fighting intensified in Mogadishu and displaced more than 270,000 people , causing the number of internally displaced persons to reach 1.5 million people , '' according to a report on the UNHCR website . CNN 's Ben Brumfield and Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report .
Observer from Somaliland electoral commission killed . Ballots being counted in election . Voting took place Saturday under heavy security .