Mogadishu: Three people are dead after a pair of suicide car bombings in Somalia’s capital, police said Friday. The first explosion occurred at an army checkpoint on the airport road in Mogadishu, injuring one soldier, Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. The bomber apparently was heading to Mogadishu’s international airport but was stopped by soldiers. The heavily fortified airport houses embassies and is a major target for Al-Shabab extremists. The second car bomb detonated shortly afterward near busy Benadir junction after soldiers stopped the vehicle, firing on it as it tried to speed through a checkpoint. The three dead included a soldier, Hussein said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the two explosions. The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of the capital and holds large parts of southern and central Somalia. Meanwhile, the US military said on Friday it had killed three militants after launching an air strike in Somalia against Al-Shabab militants. The military’s Africa Command (Africom) said they carried out the strike on April 5 near the town of Jilib, about 230 miles (370 km) southwest of Mogadishu. “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, US Forces conducted an air strike against Al-Shabab militants near Jilib ... killing three terrorists and destroying one vehicle with a mounted heavy machine gun,” it said in a statement. Washington has expanded its operations in the Horn of Africa country after President Donald Trump eased combat rules last year. Since withdrawing from the capital Mogadishu in 2011, Al-Shabab lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns. But they retain a strong presence in regions outside the capital.