The first explosives-laden car exploded near the city’s Aden Abdulle Airport when intercepted by the local intelligence at the checkpoint, the media said. The bomber died, while three National Intelligence and Security Agency members were injured.

The second car blew up at another checkpoint near Sei Piano area. The blast killed two soldiers and wounded some others, while three militants were eliminated by the Somali troops.Al-Shabaab militants, who have sworn allegiance to the al-Qaeda terror group (banned in Russia), claimed responsibility for the attack.

Somalia has been engulfed in violence since the eruption of a civil war between clan-based armed factions in the early 1990s. Al-Shabaab is staging numerous attacks across the country in an attempt to impose a radical version of Sharia law.