A former Somali foreign minister was among five killed on Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in the capital Mogadishu, according to the country's information minister.

Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayr told a press conference that former foreign minister Hussein Elabe Faahiye, who served under former premier Ali Mohamed Gedi in 2007, was among those killed.

A police officer who declined to be named told Xinhua that a car filled with explosives went off as police were checking vehicles in Mogadishu's Bondhere District, causing deaths and injuries.

“The blast happened in a traffic area at a police checkpoint, so far we can confirm four people died in the explosion. We are establishing more details on the incident,” the officer said.

Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed the attack and said that it had targeted a convoy escorting officials and lawmakers heading to the presidential palace.