MOGADISHU, Feb 28 (Xinhua) — Two Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers were killed and another injured in a roadside blast in the capital city Mogadishu on Sunday, the police said.
A police officer said the two bodyguards of SNA deputy chief were killed following the landmine blast along Abdikassim road in Mogadishu’s Hodan district.
” The blast targeted the SNA deputy chief who was in the convoy but he survived, but two of his bodyguards were killed,” said a police officer who did not want to be named.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the attack but the militant group al-Shabaab which has been fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government is usually behind such attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere across the country.
Sources said the roadside blast appeared to have targeted the senior military officer’s convoy which was heading towards the ministry of defense.
The al-Qaida-allied terror group was driven out of the capital Mogadishu in August 2011, but they are still in control of strongholds in the rural areas of southern and central regions, conducting ambushes and planting landmines. — NNN-XINHUA