Four Somali government security forces were killed and four others were wounded Wednesday in a roadside bomb explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said.
"The four members of the security forces were patrolling a street in south of Mogadishu when the explosion, a remotely controlled roadside bomb, went off near them. Four others were also wounded," Col Abdullah Hassan Barise, spokesman for Somali police told Xinhua.
Somali government security forces cordoned off the area and began searches for the perpetrators.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack but Islamist fighters opposed to the Somali government and the presence of the African
Union (AU) peacekeepers are known to target Somali government security forces and AU peacekeepers.
Meanwhile Islamist group of Al Shabaab banned the viewing of the popular Britain-based Somali language TV channel, known as Universal, after accusing it of insulting the Muslim Prophet Mohamed by airing controversial cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet.
The radical Islamist group has also banned the use of the satellite channel by local companies for their advertisements.
Last week another Islamist group, Hezbul Islam, ordered the TV station to close its offices in major Somali cities including Mogadishu, Bossaso in
Puntland in northeast Somalia and in Hargeisa, capital of the northwestern breakaway republic of Somaliland.
The opposition groups have previously banned the airing of music by local radio stations which have largely complied with the edict. Somalia has been
beset by almost two decades of civil conflict and is considered as one of the worst countries for journalists to work in.