At least six people were killed in Mogadishu, including a senior city council official, when a remote-controlled bomb planted by al-Shabaab insurgents exploded on a busy street in the Somali capital.

The city has been hit by a series of suicide bomb attacks in the past few months claimed by al-Qaeda-linked militants al-Shabaab.

Police said the bomb that exploded yesterday was hidden in a pile of rubbish by the roadside. Those killed along with the official are thought to be his bodyguards. At least 25 others were wounded.