Government worker killed in second blast in Somalia

An official with the Somali transport ministry was killed by a bomb blast in the capital of Mogadishu on Monday, hours after at least two people were killed and seven wounded when another bomb blast ripped through a busy market, officials said.

Al Shabaab militants, who have vowed to mount a series of attacks during Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which began on Sunday, claimed responsibility for both attacks. The militant Islamist group also claimed its gunmen shot dead three people on Sunday and said the killings were just the start of its group's Ramadan campaign.