Somalia police: Nine killed by car bomb in capital

A car bomb killed at least nine people and wounded many others at a restaurant in Somalia's capital on Tuesday, police said.

In addition to the deaths, at least eight people were wounded in the attack, said police officer Mohamed Hussein. Security forces secured the area around the Banoda restaurant, in Mogadishu, after the attack, said another senior police officer Mohamed Abdi.

The car with the bomb had been parked near Somalia's heavily guarded presidential palace when it exploded, he said. Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, it bears the hallmarks of Somalia's Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which frequently carries out attacks in Mogadishu and throughout Somalia.

At least seven people were killed on Monday when a bomb planted in a UN van exploded in the 

northern area of Puntland, a semiautonomous region that is normally peaceful.

Four UN staff working to help Somali children were among those killed in that attack, the UN children's agency announced on Tuesday.

Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida, appears to be stepping up attacks in Somalia and across borders even as it loses ground inside Somalia.