Generals among 7 killed in Somali jihadist attack: army

Two generals and five other soldiers were killed in a mine blast near the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, military sources said, in an attack claimed by the jihadist Al-Shabab movement.

General Omar Adan Hassan, head of the army's 12th brigade, and the brigade's operational commander, General Abdi Ali Jamame, were among those killed in the blast.

A statement from the president's office paid tribute to all the victims as "martyrs" who had "sacrificed their lives" working for the return of peace in their country.

Their military convoy was returning to Mogadishu after visiting a military base south of the capital on a coastal road when a vehicle set off the device.

"The terrorists planted an explosive device along the road targeting a vehicle transporting general Omar Dhere," military spokesman Mohamed Adan told AFP.

The two officers were on board a pick-up truck and most of its passengers were killed, said another military spokesman, Abdulahi Ahmed. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

The Shabab group, an al-Qaeda affiliate which has been fighting to overthrow the internationally backed Somali government for over a decade, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militant group was forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011 but it still controls parts of the countryside and regularly attacks government, military and civilian targets, seemingly at will, in Mogadishu and regional towns.

In 2017, Somalia saw the deadliest attack in its history after a truck bombing killed more than 500 people in the capital. 

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