Gunmen detonate a car bomb and storm a beach restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab fighters have attacked a beach restaurant in the capital Mogadishu with a car bomb before entering into a gunfight with security forces, according to police and the group.

“A car bomb exploded at Banadir beach restaurant at Lido beach and there is exchange of gunfire. We have no other details so far,” Major Ahmed Ibrahim, a police officer, told Reuters news agency on Thursday.

The Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We attacked the Banadir beach restaurant and now our fighters are fighting inside it,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, its military operation spokesman, told Reuters.

The Associated Press news agency reported that a car bomber had prematurely detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the new Turkish embassy compound in the capital, according to a Somali police officer.

Police opened fire on the car Thursday evening when the bomber refused their orders to stop at a checkpoint near the beachside embassy, the officer told AP.

Captain Mohamed Hussein said the driver detonated the car bomb in the middle of the road. It was not immediately known if anyone was killed.