Members of Somali militant group al-Shabab have killed six people, including an MP and a senior government official, in two separate attacks in the capital Mogadishu, police says.

In the first incident on Saturday, Somali lawmaker Abdullahi Huseen Mohamed was killed along with his bodyguards during a drive-by shooting, DPA quoted police officer Ali Hassan Kulmiye as as saying without any reference to the number of the bodyguards.

The armed assailants then managed to flee the scene, added the police officer.

Earlier in the day, a senior government official, identified as Said Ali Salah, was killed in a separate drive-by shooting, the report added, citing Mohamed Hassan, a senior security official.

An ensuing exchange of gunfire between the assailants and the bodyguards left two civilians dead, according to local police accounts.

Al-Shabab, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for both the attacks on the pro-insurgent radio station Andalus.

Al-Shabab terrorists regularly target Somali government authorities as well as civilians across the country.

The Takfiri militants have also carried out terrorist attacks in neighboring Kenya since 2011, after Kenyan forces entered Somalia in a bid to assist Somali government to battle the group.

Somalia has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab since 2006.

Al-Shabab militants, who have been attempting to oust the central government, continuously launch attacks on the capital.