This is the first time that the government has installed surveillance cameras on key roads in Mogadishu to help prevent militant attacks.

Al-Shabab often carries out bomb and gunfire attacks in Mogadishu. Last week, its fighters carried out an attack at the Somali Youth League (SYL) hotel that is located near the presidential palace.

Somali government soldiers killed two al-Shabab gunmen who attacked the SYL hotel on 11 December 2019Image caption: Somali government soldiers killed two al-Shabab gunmen who attacked the SYL hotel on 11 December 2019

The group carried out one of its deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in October 2017 after it detonated explosives packed in a truck. More than 300 people are believed to have been killed in the incident that was captured on CCTV.

In May, the group ordered businesses in the capital to dismount CCTV cameras from buildings along the city's main roads.

The SYL hotel in Mogadishu