MOGADISHU A Somali general and at least seven of his bodyguards were killed on Sunday when their military convoy was hit by a suspected vehicle bomb, a police officer said on Sunday.
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Somali military officials in the area said the combat flared up when Al Shabaab fighters assaulted a military convoy heading to Jalalaqsi district.
Al Shabaab, which once ruled much of Somalia, wants to topple the Western-backed government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming vote.
Reports indicate that the group pulled its fighters out of El Wak town overnight on Saturday. Here, weapons captured in a successful operation are displayed.
Sources said the militants hoisted their black flag at El-Wak’s administrative headquarters and spoke to residents after they took the town.
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Somali Major Mohamed Jimcale told Reuters by telephone from the nearby Somali town of Baardheere that government forces had retreated to another town where there is a base for the African Union’s AMISOM force. Al Shabaab lost the town in 2011 when Kenyan troops crossed border into Somalia. Al Shabab fighters often launch the attacks and then withdraw from the places before the government forces have time to launch a counterattack.
