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Gunmen assassinate Somali politician in Mogadishu drive-by shooting

The incident coincides with fighting between government forces and al-Shabab militants to the capital's south.

By Fred Lambert
A view of Mogadishu, Somalia, where on May 23, 2015, gunmen shot and killed Somali parliamentarian Yusuf Dirir. Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org/ Flickr/ ctsnow.
A view of Mogadishu, Somalia, where on May 23, 2015, gunmen shot and killed Somali parliamentarian Yusuf Dirir. Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org/ Flickr/ ctsnow.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 24 (UPI) -- Gunmen in Somalia shot and killed a member of the country's parliament on Saturday, according to reports.

Yusuf Dirir died after assassins in a minibus blocked his route and sprayed his car with bullets, also killing three workers from Somalia's Transport Ministry and wounding another parliamentarian.

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The killing follows the death of Abdulahi Qayad Barre, a parliamentarian who al-Qaida-aligned terrorist group al-Shabab shot to death near the presidential palace in February.

Later that month, two other members of Somalia's parliament were among 25 people killed when al-Shabab militants struck a hotel in Mogadishu with car bombs before storming the facility.

Saturday's attack coincides with fighting between al-Shabab forces and government troops in areas south of the capital, where at least 17 people have been reported killed.

In 2014 al-Shabab militants regularly targeted Somalia's parliament, though several of the attacks killed bystanders instead of politicians.

At least five members of Somalia's parliament were assassinated last year, the last being Aden Madeer, who in August was murdered while exiting a mosque in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility, and at the time, vowed to continue attacking "infidels" in parliament.

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