Al Shabaab militants have shot dead the governor of Galgadud and his brother in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Mohamed Dahir Elmi, the governor of the central Somalia region, and his sibling were gunned down in Yakshid, a northern suburb of the capital on Friday night.

The two were visiting a relative in the area when the gunmen, who are said to have trailed them, opened fire.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen fled the scene before police officers arrived.

The Islamist Al Shabaab fighters claimed the attack on the governor.

The incident occurred a few hours after a bomb exploded in the city centre killing at least three civilians and injuring several others.

A saloon car packed with explosives blew up along the Maka-alMukarrama Avenue, near Dar-ul-Shifa hospital, at around 6:30pm. The blast was heard across the city.

It was the second bombing within a week, following a deadly blast that killed at least 10 along the same avenue on Sunday.

Militants retake town

Early Friday, Al Shabaab retook Leego in the Lower Shabelle region after African Union troops (Amisom) withdrew from the town.

Ibrahim Adam Najah, the governor of Lower Shabelle in the south of the country, told local media that the militants took over the town minutes after the Amisom soldiers left.

Leego is about 130 km northwest of the capital Mogadishu.

The withdrawal came five days after Al Shabaab killed 12 Ugandan soldiers in one of the deadliest ambush on Amisom troops in the Lower Shabelle region. (Africa Review)