NAIROBI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Somali authorities said Sunday they are holding two suspects in connection with the deaths of two prominent journalists who were killed within hours of each other on Saturday, according to reports reaching here.

Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere told a news conference in the Somali capital that the two suspects were arrested on Saturday night, adding that one of them has confessed to being involved in both attacks.

"These men are in the hands of police forces. They are being investigated," Dheere said according to Somali news portal, Shabelle News.

Ali Iman Sharmarke, managing director of HornAfrik Radio, died when his car was blown up as he and colleagues in a convoy of media mourners were returning from the burial of Mahad Ahmed Elmi, director of Radio Capital Voice, who was shot dead earlier Saturday in Mogadishu.

These deaths are the latest in a series of attacks that have claimed six media lives in Somalia this year.

HornAfrik is one of the most popular media groups in Somalia, providing radio, TV and Internet news to many Somalis.

The station's broadcasts have criticized both the government and the Muslim groups who have been trying to topple the administration.

Elmi was fatally shot by two armed men outside his office earlyon Saturday, while Sharmarke was killed hours later as he returned from his colleague's funeral.

Meanwhile, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) has called on the transitional government of Somalia to investigate the killings which have rocked the capital in recent days.

In a statement received here Sunday, AMISOM spokesman Captain Paddy Ankunda condemned the Saturday killings and urged the government to bring the culprits to book.

"AMISOM is perturbed by the wave of killings that has rocked the city in recent days. Reports have continued to reach us that assassination of government officials and innocent civilians has become the order of the day," Ankunda said.

"AMISOM condemns these killings in the strongest terms possibleand urges whoever is behind them to stop henceforth."

Ankunda said the era of "outgunning and out powering each other must end", noting that the power of the gun has failed to bring peace to the Somali people for the past 17 years.

"It is therefore vital that at this moment in time, an opportunity is given to dialogue and reconciliation. AMISOM will always foster dialogue and reconciliation," he said.

A number of local and foreign journalists have been killed in recent years in the war ravaged Horn of African country, which has been without effective central government for many years.

Somalia has experienced continued instability despite dozens of peace initiatives since the overthrow of Siad Barre, former president, in 1991.