UPDATE 1-Car bomb explodes at restaurant near police academy in Somali capital - police

A car bomb exploded at a restaurant near the police academy in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday evening, police said. No group immediately claimed responsibility, though Islamist al Shabaab fighters have launched a string of attacks in the city.

"A car bomb parked at a restaurant exploded. The restaurant is behind the police academy. So far we do not know the casualties," police officer Major Mohamed Hussein said. The Horn of Africa nation has been riven by civil war since 1992, when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab says it wants to overthrow the weak, U.N.-backed government and rule Somalia according to its reading of Islamic law. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Heavens)