MOGADISHU — Four soldiers were killed and four others wounded on Wednesday in clashes among government soldiers in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The clash erupted when military soldiers attempted to stop a vehicle carrying security troops at an army checkpoint near the presidential palace in the capital, says policeman Hanad Hussein.

Hussein told The Messenger Africa that four security soldiers were killed in the fighting, adding that all casualties were security troops who were on board the vehicle.

“We [police soldiers] have intervened between both military and security soldiers who fought at the army checkpoint, but four security soldiers were left dead,” he said.

A deputy security chief, whose name has been identified as Isse Hassan Aralle, was among those killed in the skirmish, according to Hanad Hussein.

He says four other soldiers were also injured earlier on Wednesday in clashes between military forces and security troops in Hodan and Wadajir districts in the capital.

The victims who were wounded in the clashes were rushed into hospitals in Mogadishu.

Reporting by Abdirizak Mohamud Tuuryare