Deadly car bomb at Mogadishu café

Most of those who died had been sitting outside the café, police said. Witnesses said the explosion, which took place on a busy road that leads to the government district, could be heard several streets away.

"I don't know who was targeted but the explosion was very strong and the site was destroyed," witness Ahmed Yusuf told the AFP news agency.

At least seven people were believed to have died in the bombing, with the number also being placed higher.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, police said they believed the Islamist group al-Shabab was behind the attack. The group has vowed to avenge the death of its leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed in early September in a US airstrike.

Al-Shabab vows reprisals

Godane's replacement has continued to carry out attacks in the Somali capital, from which it has been largely expelled by African Union (AU) troops. The AU forces have won a series of victories against al-Shabab, last week recapturing the port town of Barawe.

Al-Shabab has said it wants to topple a government that it accuses of being a puppet of the West. Its leadership last week said it would prove to those who believed it had been weakened that it remained a potent force. The group described its abandoning of Barawe as a tactical withdrawal.

Earlier, gunmen shot a Somali television reporter three times as he tried to flee for safety, seriously wounding him. The attack is the third to target journalists this year, according to the African Union Mission in Somalia.

rc/slk (AFP, AP, Reuters)