Mogadishu, May 24 A Somali parliamentarian has been shot dead in Mogadishu in an attack by suspected Islamist militants, BBC reported on Sunday.

Yusuf Dirir was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car, said security officials. 

Three workers from the transport ministry also died in a separate drive-by shooting on Saturday.

Dirir was killed when gunmen in a minibus blocked his route and sprayed the car with bullets, police said.

"He was a man that has long served his country and wanted to see a united Somalia," Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The attacks took place as a number of people were killed in clashes between al-Shabab gunmen and government troops in southern Somalia.