MOGADISHU, Somalia

At least three Somali soldiers were killed in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday by a terrorist al-Shabaab bomb targeting a military tribunal chief, said officials and the local media.

Several soldiers were also wounded when the roadside bomb struck an army vehicle in Mogadishu's Hodon district, reported local news agency Garowe online.

The Somali police confirmed that military tribunal chief Col. Hassan Ali Shuute survived an assassination attempt on the outskirts of Mogadishu, where an IED targeted his convoy.

Through their propaganda radio, Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shuute was returning from the El-Sanini military base in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, which on Sunday was the scene of gunfights between al-Shabaab and the Somali national army which killed 13 al-Shabaab militants and five Somali soldiers.