A mortar attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu has killed three civilians and injured two others.
The mortar rounds were fired on Thursday near a stadium, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson Rono, a spokesman for the US Africa Command, told Reuters. The attack was claimed by Islamist group al Shabaab.
Earlier on Thursday, al Shabaab militants set off a suicide car bomb at a checkpoint about 15km outside the capital. At least five people were injured including soldiers, police officer Ali Roble told Reuters.
A second police officer, Abdullahi Nur, said many vehicles had been parked at the checkpoint for inspection when the blast occurred.
Al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia in their effort to bring down the Western-backed federal government and drive out the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM defending it.
On Friday, twin car bomb blasts in Mogadishu, also claimed by al Shabaab, killed 45 people.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters the group was responsible for both the mortar attack and the car bombing.
