A Kenyan air strike has been blamed for killing five people at a refugee camp in southern Somalia and wounding 45 more, most of them children.

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.

Fighting erupted today on the outskirts of Somalia's militant Islamic movement's last remaining stronghold as thousands fled advancing Ethiopian troops supported by tanks and MiG fighter jets.

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.