Six Killed In A Mogadishu Restaurant Blast, Somalia

"Six people died and seven others were wounded in the blast," Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of an ambulance service, told reporters.

The government officials were uninjured in the blast which started a fire inside the structure and sent smoke into the air as diners ran for cover.

"The police commissioner was inside the restaurant when the blast occurred but he is safe along with several legislators who stayed there," he told AFP.

 "There was a blast in the restaurant presumably caused by a suicide bomber, but we are not sure so far about the cause," police officer Mohamed Ali said.

The blast occurred just days after a mortar strike on Somalia's parliament, which occurred during a gathering of newly-elected members.

The Islamist terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency against the central government for more than a decade, claimed responsibility for Monday's attack.

In recent weeks, the country has been hit by a slew of attacks as it struggles to complete a long-delayed electoral process to install a new president.

Although several legislative seats remain vacant, enough legislators have been sworn in to take the election process forward, with both houses set to elect a speaker next week.

In 50 years, Somalia has not held a one-person, one-vote election. Rather, polls follow a convoluted indirect approach in which state legislatures and clan delegates select members of the national parliament, who then elect the president.