A suicide car bombing and assault by Shabaab militants on two neighbouring restaurants in Somalia's capital Mogadishu ended Thursday morning with 18 dead, a government spokesman said.

"The operation is over now and the gunmen were killed by the security forces," said Mohamed Ahmed Arab, spokesman for Somalia's security ministry. "They have attacked business places and killed innocent civilians: 18 civilians were killed, including a Syrian national, and more than 10 others were wounded," he said.