Al-Shabaab suspect behind murder of security official shot dead

Somali security forces on Wednesday evening shot dead an Al-Shabaab militant who was behind the killing of a senior military official in the capital Mogadishu, officials said on Thursday.

Spokesman of the local government in Mogadishu, Abdifitah Omar Halane told journalists that one of two militants who murdered a senior military official in Hodan district was shot dead by security forces.

"Two members from Al-Shabaab killed Col. Siyad Ahmed Mohamed, a military official in Hodan district, then security forces took action immediately and shot one of the terrorists dead while the other one escaped from the scene, but operation to pursue him continues," Halane said.

Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the latest murder of the military official, saying the fighters escaped from the area after the assassination.

Al-Shabaab militants still carry out attacks in the Horn of Africa nation despite security operations jointly carried out Somali security officers and the African Union peacekeeping troops. Endit