MOGADISHU, Somalia 

A Somali soldier was killed and four wounded in a bomb blast in southern Somalia on Tuesday.

A remote-controlled explosive device was planted along a road frequently used by the Somali military in Burane, a village on the outskirts of Jowhar, capital of the Middle Shabelle region, a police officer told Anadolu Agency.

“The bomb went off when the soldiers were passing through on a motorcycle and a motorized rickshaw,” said the cop, who asked not to be named due to security concerns in the conflict-ridden region.

“One of them died on the spot and the others are in hospital,” he said, adding that Somali forces have launched a search operation in the area.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, which came just a week after al-Shabaab terrorists overran a military base located nearby.

Somali authorities said over two dozen soldiers part of peacekeeping forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia died in the assault, while al-Shabaab claimed more than 170 were killed.