Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying it had destroyed a military pick-up truck carrying the generals and their seven bodyguards near Dhanaane village just outside Mogadishu on Thursday afternoon.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operation spokesman, identified the slain generals as Omar Aden and Abdi Ali.

"We destroyed their pick-up with a roadside bomb near Dhanaane village," he told Reuters.

A military official who identified himself as Captain Mohamed confirmed to Reuters the two generals and their guards had been killed while others were injured.

Al Shabaab has for years been fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed central government and install its own rule based on a strict interpretation of sharia law.

The country has been gripped by insecurity and lawlessness since the early 1990s.