No fewer than five people died and six injured on Thursday when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.
The bomber was reportedly chasing a convoy carrying two police officers, but missed the target.
A civilian vehicle was caught in the explosion instead.
The dead included three members of the security forces, who were patrolling the area located near the presidential palace, and the bomber.
Six people were reported to have been injured.
Witness Abdisalan Garad said some of them were inside a nearby restaurant hit by the blast, while parts of the building collapsed.