Five soldiers and police were killed in the Somali capital yesterday and a dozen others were wounded in bomb and gun attacks by Islamist militants, police and witnesses said.

Al Shabaab fighters, who have threatened to step up attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, said they detonated a car bomb that killed two soldiers guarding the Somali Parliament, a few hundred metres from the presidential compound.

“This is our second attack against the Parliament building and we shall continue it,” said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s spokesman for military operations.

Police said soldiers guarding the Parliament building had prevented it reaching its target.

“The suicide car bomb was targeting the Parliament entrance but it was fired on from all sides as it approached the main gate,” said Nur Ahmed, a colonel in the police service.

Police said two soldiers were killed and four wounded.

The al-Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab militants killed a lawmaker and his bodyguard in an attack on Thursday, accusing them of collaborating with Christians – a reference to backing Mogadishu gets from Western powers and the African Union.