A car bomb exploded at a popular seaside restaurant in the Somali capital today, with intense gunfire following the blast, police said.

"There was a car bomb explosion at a restaurant at the Lido beach, there is shooting and gunfire," police officer Ahmed Bidan said.

The Lido beach area in Mogadishu is busy with restaurants, including upmarket establishments popular with business people and diaspora Somalis who have returned home to Mogadishu.

 There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have carried out a string of similar bombings in the past. AFP