Somalia army commander killed in Mogadishu blast

At least five people, including a senior Somali military commander, were killed and 10 others injured when a car laden with explosives rammed into a restaurant in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Gen. Abdi Adan was among the dead when the car bomb hit an Italian restaurant, near the country's immigration headquarters in the Somali capital, reports the Global Times.

"We have confirmed the death of five people in the explosion, Ten other people are injured, "The Global Times reported citing police officer Mohamed Ali.

The explosion occurred hours after Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo visited the Lower Shabelle region,which is still under Al-Shabaab control.

With an aim to topple Somalia's Western backed government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops, Al Qaeda affiliated group al Shabaab have carried out frequent attacks in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab is an al Qaeda-linked terror group that seeks to turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state and has carried out repeated attacks against the government and military targets.