Militants Kill Governor, Sibling In Mogadishu

Mohamed Dahir Elmi, the governor of Galgadud in the central Somalia region, and his sibling have been killed in Yakshid, a northern suburb of the capital.
They were reported to have been killed by Al Shabaab militants on Friday, August 4 night in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Africa Review reports that Al Shabaab militants shot dead the governor and his brother.
The two were visiting a relative in the area when the gunmen, who are said to have trailed them, opened fire.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen fled the scene before police officers arrived.
The Islamist Al Shabaab fighters claimed the attack on the governor. The incident occurred a few hours after a bomb exploded in the city centre killing at least three civilians and injuring several others.
A saloon car packed with explosives blew up along the Maka-alMukarrama Avenue, near Dar-ul-Shifa hospital, at around 6:30pm. The blast was heard across the city. It was the second bombing within a week, following a deadly blast that killed at least 10 along the same avenue on Sunday, July 31.
Early Friday, Al Shabaab retook Leego in the Lower Shabelle region after African Union troops (Amisom) withdrew from the town. Ibrahim Adam Najah, the governor of Lower Shabelle in the south of the country, told local media that the militants took over the town minutes after the Amisom soldiers left.
Leego is about 130 km northwest of the capital Mogadishu. The withdrawal came five days after Al Shabaab killed 12 Ugandan soldiers in one of the deadliest ambush on Amisom troops in the Lower Shabelle region.