Renegade soldiers in armoured vehicles stormed Niger’s presidential palace with a hail of gunfire in broad daylight, kidnapping the country’s strongman president then appearing on state television to declare a successful coup.

It is up to Africa to help Kenya resolve a dispute over elections that has sparked spiralling violence, the African Union chief said as the continent’s leaders converged in Ethiopia for a summit.

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.

Experts gathered today to decide on the size, mandate and logistics for an African peacekeeping force for Somalia, but a top AU official said nations had shown little interest in sending troops.