Bomb attack kills over a dozen troops in central Somalia

More than a dozen members of Somalia's security forces, including a senior commander, have been killed in a roadside bombing in central Somalia, military officials say.

The explosion tore through a military vehicle just outside the city of Dhusamareb, some 400 kilometres north of the capital Mogadishu on Sunday.

"We are getting terrible reports that 13 security men are all killed in the blast, which destroyed their vehicle in the Galmudug province," senior military official General Masud Mohamud.

Among those killed was a senior regional intelligence officer.

Security source said the soldiers were conducting security operations in the area when they hit a roadside bomb.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault in a brief statement, in which they said they had killed 14 soldiers, including a senior commander.

Dhusamareb hosted the country's leaders last week as they held talks over Somalia's delayed election.

A deal on how to choose a new president has been elusive so far, threatening to unleash more political turmoil.

Somalia had initially aimed to hold its first direct election in more than three decades but delays in preparations, and the government's inability to rein in daily attacks by militants, meant switching to an indirect vote, with elders picking lawmakers who would choose a president.

Somalia has been hit by several gun and bomb attacks over the past few weeks. 

On January 31, at least five people, including a prominent former general, were killed in attack on a Mogadishu hotel by the al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Car bomb explosion hits Somali hotel, militants claim responsibility

A car bomb explosion has hit a hotel in the center of Somalia

In December last year, at least 10 people were killed in a town in Somalia’s semi autonomous state of Galmudug when a bomber detonated a device at a rally due to be addressed by the country’s prime minister. 

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants have been waging an insurgency across Somalia for more than a decade. 

Despite being ousted from large parts of south and central Somalia, al-Shabab continues deadly attacks across the country, which has been ravaged by decades of war and poverty.

The militant group aims to oust the government in Mogadishu and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops. It has been carrying out militancy since 2006.

Al-Shabaab militants have fought successive Somali governments as well as neighboring governments in Uganda and Kenya, the latter of which sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the group as part of the African Union forces.

Somalia has faced instability and violence since 1991, when the military government was overthrown.

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