MOGADISHU (SD) – At least four bodyguards attached to two former lawmakers were killed and their bosses sustained injuries after landmine hit a vehicle in Somali capital on Saturday.

Witnesses confirmed that Muhidin Farah and Hussein Arale, both ex-MPs sustained injuries when a Toyota Hilux they were traveling in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) suspected to have been planted on a roadside in Shibis district.

According to the police, the four security officers died on the spot. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by al-Shabaab militant group.

Last last month, Muhidin survived a similar attack in Kaaraan district but the blast claimed the live of his bodyguard..

Al-Shabaab militant group has intensified their attacks against government officials in Mogadishu ahead of the country’s elections.

Last Tuesday, Ali Mohamed Moalim, the deputy commissioner for security and politics in Garasbaale, Abdirashid Dubad, a youth activist as well as their driver were killed in a landmine explosion in Mogadishu.