The United Nations’ top humanitarian official made a landmark visit to battle-scarred Mogadishu today, but the trip was disrupted by an explosion that killed three people and wounded one near the UN compound there.

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.

Somalia’s president came under mortar attack in his palace in Mogadishu today, hours after arriving for a rare visit to the violent capital, eyewitnesses said.

Somalia’s president agreed today to a national reconciliation conference in a bid to end 16 years of anarchy in the war-ravaged country, paving the way for the deployment of African peacekeepers.

Somalia’s transitional government lifted a broadcast ban today, said the government spokesman, a day after it had ordered three Somali radio stations and an international television channel to stop operations.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said in an interview published today that suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere have been among those taken prisoner or injured in military operations in Somalia.

The US launched at least two airstrikes on different locations against terror targets in Somalia, an official and witnesses said today.

The prime minister promised thousands of cheering Somalis peace and stability after he drove through battle-scarred Mogadishu in an armed convoy, a day after an Islamic movement’s fighters abandoned the capital ahead of his Ethiopian-backed troops.

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Mogadishu International Airport in the middle of Somalia’s capital today.

Somalia’s president today said peace talks with the country’s Islamic movement are no longer an option because the group’s leaders have declared war on his government.

Heavy fighting erupted in northern Somalia today as Islamic forces clashed with militia backed by Ethiopian troops, an Islamic official said.

A member of Somalia’s virtually powerless government was assassinated today as he walked out of a mosque, enraging hundreds of Somalis who rioted in the streets screaming, “We want a government that can restore law and order!”

SOMALIA’S powerful Islamists yesterday said they would not attend peace talks with the interim government until Ethiopian troops left their soil.

The leader of Somalia’s Islamic fighters called on all Somalis to wage holy war against Ethiopia today, a day after Ethiopian troops rolled into Somalia to protect the weak UN-backed government the Islamic group has challenged for power.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden issued a message on the Internet today addressing Islamist militants in Iraq and Somalia.

African and Western diplomats were discussing the details of a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, an African Union spokesman said today, after militias vowing to impose Islamic rule took over the capital of the Horn of Africa country.

The European Union yesterday committed €70m in aid to Somalia to help rebuild the drought-stricken and civil war-plagued nation.