A car bomb exploded near a bus stop in a district of Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday, causing an unknown number of casualties, police said.

"We do not yet know whether it was a suicide car bomb or a parked car bomb. There are casualties, but it is too early to give (an) exact figure," major Mohamed Abdullahi, a police officer, said. Smoke could be seen rising from above the scene of the blast.