Al Qaida-linked militants in Somalia vowed to keep most international aid workers away despite a worsening famine, as the United Nations warned that 800,000 children could die from starvation.

An al-Qaida-linked militant group has said it will not allow banned aid organisations to return to southern Somalia, meaning only a handful of agencies will be able to respond to the worsening famine.

SOMALIA has pardoned six foreigners convicted of illegally carrying millions of dollars into the country with the intention of paying pirate ransoms, a government spokesman and presidency officials said.

At least three people died after a suicide bomber attacked an African Union peacekeeping base in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

Witnesses in Somalia say al Qaida linked insurgents have taken control of a strategic town from a militia allied to the Somali government.

Fighting between Somali government troops and police killed 16 people in the capital Mogadishu today, witnesses said.

Freed hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler have sold the story of how they were kidnapped by Somali pirates in a deal worth an estimated £500,000 (€587,000).

A British couple held captive by Somali pirates woke up to their first day of freedom in more than a year today, as family and friends celebrated their release.

The Somali government says 31 people were killed during an attack by a suicide bomber and gunmen on a Mogadishu hotel today.

Scores of football fans were killed as they watched the World Cup final on TV by two al-Qaida-linked suicide bombers in Uganda.

At least 17 civilians were killed when Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeepers launched co-ordinated attacks against Islamic insurgent strongholds in the capital Mogadishu, officials said today.

A Somali man who apparently tried to board an airliner with similar equipment to the Christmas Day bomber was cleared by a court, the country admitted today.

The Somali government blamed al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants for a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in the capital, as government officials buried three Cabinet ministers killed in the attack.

NATO forces foiled an attack by Somali pirates on a Norwegian oil tanker, and briefly detained seven gunmen after hunting them down under cover of darkness, Nato officials said yesterday.

The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 (€113,919) in cash, a resident said today, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.

Somalia’s prime minister vowed to continue his job today as MPs passed a confidence vote after the president attempted to fire him.

In one of the Bush administration’s last major foreign policy initiatives, the US circulated a draft United Nations resolution seeking international authorisation to hunt down Somali pirates on land.

Somali pirates preying on international shipping are also damaging their homeland’s battered economy, worsening the instability that opened the door to piracy and inroads by Islamist extremists, the UN chief warned.

Pirates holding a hijacked arms ship today insisted they would not release it for less than $20m (€14.4m) and warned they would repel any commando-style rescue attempts.

A leader of Somalia’s ousted Islamic movement rejected a United Nations-brokered peace deal between the government and an opposition alliance, vowing the militants would fight on.

The terrorist believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia and 10 others have been killed in a US air attack.

The mayor of Mogadishu escaped an assassination attempt today when a bomb exploded near his convoy, the latest in a series of attempts to kill Somali government officials as they struggle to contain an insurgency.

A roadside bomb struck a convoy carrying African Union peacekeepers in Somalia today, killing four peacekeepers in one of the deadliest attacks on the troops since they arrived in March, authorities said.

Ethiopian tanks and artillery shelled an insurgent stronghold in north Mogadishu today, as ceasefire talks floundered and rumours spread that a top Islamic rebel had arrived in the capital.

Somalia’s government is holding up vital aid to tens of thousands of people as car bombs and street fighting brought the death toll to nearly 1,500 in less than a month, sending the country lurching towards catastrophe, it was warned.

Artillery shells and mortars rained down on Mogadishu today after a week of fighting, despite a plea by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an end to the violence that local groups say has claimed the lives of over 350 people.

Artillery shells and mortars rained down on Somalia’s capital Mogadishu again today, despite a plea by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to end the violence that has left nearly 250 people dead.

Insurgents and Ethiopian troops backing Somali government forces fought gun battles today in the Somali capital Mogadishu which left at least 47 people dead and 71 wounded, a human rights group said.

Elders of the dominant clan in the Somali capital Mogadishu remain committed to a truce negotiated with Ethiopian military officials backing the government.

Hundreds of residents fled their homes today during a second day of fighting between Islamic insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian troops in which at least four people were killed and six wounded.

Somali troops are battling rebels for a second day in the capital Mogadishu.

The first peacekeepers to arrive in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu in more than 10 years were met with a surge of violence today, as mortars hit the airport during a welcoming ceremony and a deadly gunbattle broke out on the city’s crumbling streets.

Mortar rounds and rockets hit Somalia’s capital early today in a series of attacks that killed 12 people including a four-year-old boy.

Ethiopian troops who helped Somalia’s government drive out a radical Islamic militia last month began withdrawing from the Horn of Africa nation today, a Somali government spokesman said.

A top leader of Somalia's ousted Islamic movement, apparently afraid for his life now that the once-powerful militia has been chased into hiding, surrendered to authorities and is in custody in neighbouring Kenya, officials said today.

Gunmen attacked Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government, sparking a fight in the second straight day of violence in a city struggling to emerge from more than a decade of chaos.

Somali government troops backed by Ethiopians today prepared to launch a major assault on the last stronghold of Islamic movement militiamen.

The United States will provide $40m (€30.7m) to Somalia in political, humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance, the top US diplomat to Africa said today.

SOMALIA’S interior minister said yesterday that thousands of fighters loyal to the deposed Islamic Courts régime still pose a threat in the capital, while a Somali government spokesman said government troops — backed by Ethiopian soldiers — are fighting about 600 Islamic militiamen in the south of the country.

Kenya has sent extra troops to the Somali frontier, stepped up security checks and said it saw no reason for Somalis to flee, underlining fears about Somali Islamic militants slipping across the border after losing a power struggle.

KENYAN soldiers and helicopters beefed up defences at the Somali border yesterday after Ethiopian warplanes and ground forces attacked fleeing Islamists on the other side of the frontier.

Somalia’s prime minister today said he does not expect any more major fighting against rival Islamic fighters and his Ethiopian military backer described the operation as within weeks of being completed.

Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have entered Kismayo, the last major stronghold of a militant Islamic movement, residents said today.

Somali government troops rolled into Mogadishu unopposed today, the prime minister said, hours after an Islamic movement that tried to establish a government based on the Koran abandoned the capital and promised to make a stand in southern Somalia.