VOA News
Unidentified gunmen have killed a top Somali intelligence official in the latest attack on figures from the country’s interim government.

Authorities say the official, Ahmed Mohamed Odaysge, was shot in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne neighborhood Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a gunman shot and killed the chairman of a court in central Somalia who was visiting the capital.

The government has been unable to fully stop the violence in the Somali capital despite declaring victory over Islamist insurgents last month.

Meanwhile, witnesses in the central town of Beledwenye say at least four civilians were killed Wednesday when Ethiopian troops opened fire on a crowd of people.

The witnesses say the Ethiopians fired indiscriminately into the crowd after a land mine went off under their military convoy. Officials say several Ethiopian soldiers were injured in the blast.

The Somali interim government is struggling to impose its authority in the Horn of Africa nation, which has gone 16 years without an effective central government.

The government has scheduled a national reconciliation conference for June 16. But the government has warned the conference may be postponed for a second time because of insufficient funding from Western nations.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.