Shells hit Mogadishu after Shabaab leader's death

Mogadishu - A Somali police officer says mortar shells have struck a Mogadishu neighbourhood a day after the al-Qaeda-linked militants named a new leader and vowed to avenge the death of the previous leader killed by a US airstrike.

Mohamed Abdi said on Sunday the shells landed in residential areas in Hamarjajab neighbourhood, wounding five residents. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

But al-Shabaab militants, while naming Ahmad Umar, also known as Abu Ubaidah, as their new leader, vowed to avenge the killing of their previous spiritual leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, killed in a US airstrike on Monday last week.

Somalia's government said on Friday night that it has credible intelligence al-Shabaab is planning attacks in retaliation for Godane's death.