A bomb planted by al-Shabaab militants exploded on Saturday in a Somali army convoy, killing at least six soldiers, including a colonel, local authorities said.

The explosion occurred as the force was patrolling beyond the town of Gofgadud, about 30 kilometers from Baidoa, in the southwestern part of the African country.

“Six members of the army,” including the colonel, “were killed on the spot,” Hassan Mohammed, an officer in Baidoa, told AFP. Many others were injured, he added, without specifying their number.

Al-Shabaab, a jihadist group that pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bombings and other attacks are common in the capital Mogadishu and Baidoa, although the number has decreased in recent months.

Last week, the Somali government announced that five soldiers and nearly 50 jihadists had been killed in Seldir, north of the capital.

Shebab (“Youth”) has been fighting for over 16 years against the Somali Federal Government, which is supported by the international community.

Although driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force, it remains present in rural areas. From there it launches frequent attacks against political and military targets, mainly in Somalia, but also in neighboring states, especially in Kenya.

The Somali federal government has been conducting large-scale operations since last summer, with the support of the US armed forces, the African Union’s ATMIS force and paramilitary groups of various tribes, which have allowed sectors of central Somalia to be retaken.