An explosion occurred on Saturday at an intersection in the Somali capital, near the presidential palace.
"A suicide car bomb that exploded at [the] Ceelgaab junction [has] killed seven people and injured eight others", Muawiye Mudeey, district commissioner of Mogadishu's Hamarjajab district said, as cited by Reuters.
Later, reports suggested that the number of fatalities caused by the blast had risen to eight.
Among those killed is Hibaq Abukar, human rights adviser for the prime minister's office, Somali National Television said.
The African country has been dealing with suicide attacks over many years, as Al-Shabaab is waging an insurgency against the Somali federal government and seeking to impose a harsh version of Sharia law.
*Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based terror group closely linked to al-Qaeda, a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other states.