World Bulletin / News Desk

A former Somali lawmaker was shot dead in capital Mogadishu on Saturday.

Haggag Ali Adam was killed as he walked in a major market in capital Mogadishu, eyewitnesses said.

The attackers fled the scene unscathed.

Saturday's attack was immediately claimed by Al-Shabaab armed group.

The al-Qaeda-linked group said Adam was killed because of his cooperation with private security firms fighting "terrorism" in Somalia, according to the pro-Al-Shabaab Andalus radio.

Al-Shabaab controls some regions in central and southern Somalia, but recently it started to lose some of this territory to government troops backed by African Union peacekeeping forces.

Al-Qaeda-lined Al-Shabaab first emerged in 2004. Somalia has remained in turmoil since the ouster of President Siad Barre in 1991.