A landmine killed the spokesman for Mogadishu's mayor on Saturday, the latest casualty in a vicious Islamic insurgency in Somalia's bloodstained capital, officials said.Mohammad Muhu Al Deen Ali was headed to his car when the mine exploded, said Abdul Rashid Ahmad, a regional officer. "He left his house and was heading to a nearby garage when a landmine went off," Ahmad said, adding that police believe he was targeted because he was a government official.
Thousands of Somalis have been killed in fighting this year between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting shaky Somali government forces. The Islamists vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency after the Ethiopians dislodged them from power one year ago. They had taken control of the capital and much of southern Somalia.