MOGADISHU, Somalia

Two Somali police officers were killed and three wounded on Monday when a bomb blast targeted a vehicle carrying police in a village outside the capital Mogadishu, an official said.

Mohamed Salad Abdi, a local administrator in the village of Weedow, where the attack took place, told Anadolu Agency by phone that the policemen were killed when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) in the lower Shabelle region.

The wounded were taken to hospital.

Somali-based al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In recent days, al-Shabaab militants have stepped up attacks on security forces as operations by Africa Union Mission Forces and the Somali National Army continue pushing the group from its strongholds in the country.