The al-Shabab militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior intelligence officer and his bodyguard in a drive-by shooting in southern Mogadishu.

Mohamud Moallim Hassan Qoley was fatally injured in the Midday shooting Sunday in Dharkaynlay district, officials said.

Qoley was chief of intelligence at Mogadishu’s Kahda area, one of the capital’s 17 districts.

“There were two bodyguards with him, the shooting came from a car that was hiding in an alleyway, one of the bodyguards died on the spot, the officer was rushed to the hospital, but he passed away,” Ismail said.

Meanwhile, four government soldiers were killed after al-Shabab militants attacked a military checkpoint in the Hiran region north of Mogadishu.

Local officials told VOA the attack occurred at dawn Sunday. Four others were injured, sources say. Militants made away with weapons seized from the soldiers at a checkpoint on a highway linking Somalia to Ethiopia.

It’s the fourth major attack on a government camp this month by al-Shabab. The militants have raided government-controlled towns of Bulogudud, Beled Hawo and El-Wak, killing dozens of soldiers and seizing weapons.



