Turkish aid workers were caught up in an armed attack in Somalia's capital Mogadishu that left one local dead on Friday, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier on, initial reports had stated that gunmen had shot dead a man believed to be a Turkish national in Mogadishu, however it turned to be a local.

A Turkish national was among four injured in the gun attack outside a mosque in the northwest of the city, local sources said. The ministry's statement referred only to a wounded Turk and a Somalian who was killed.

Police reports had said that the gunmen had opened fire on a "foreign national" near a mosque in the northwestern district of the city.

"Three light-skinned men got out of a mosque after performing Friday prayers when they were attacked," said witness Abdukadir Ali.

"One of them was killed in the attack and the other two have escaped," Ali said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but al-Shabab extremists affiliated to al-Qaeda have carried out similar attacks in the past.

The group, driven from the capital in 2011 and also from their main central and southern fiefdoms, still control extensive rural zones.

From there, they launch guerilla operations and suicide attacks as they target the fragile government and the African Union force shoring it up.

Turkey has strong ties to the Horn of Africa nation and Turkish aid agencies are involved in numerous development projects.