A bomb blast destroyed two houses near Somalia’s violent capital, killing seven people, including four children.

A Somali official said today that an al-Qaida suspect who planned the 1998 US Embassy bombings was killed in airstrike.

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.

A militant Islamist movement fled from rapidly advancing government forces into a rugged, forested corner of Somalia, as the prime minister offered an amnesty if they surrendered.

SOMALI Government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have entered Kismayo, the last major stronghold of a militant Islamic movement, residents said yesterday.

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

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.

Somalia's prime minister said today the suspects in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in east Africa are sheltering in the stronghold of his country's militant Islamic movement.

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.

Somalia's Islamic movement abandoned the nation's capital today and clan militiamen poured into the streets to take control of Mogadishu, as government forces approached to within 18 miles.

Hundreds have been killed in clashes between Somalia's Islamic militia and the country's secular government while the United Nations issued a call for peace during a lull in fighting.

Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government and its rivals in an Islamic movement fought to a bloody standstill today, and geared up for a major push as fearful villagers fled.

SOMALIA’S Islamic radicals closed down a second radio station yesterday, days after introducing strict new media laws in the war-torn country.

Somalia's Islamic radicals resisted an attack by pro-government forces to recapture a vital seaport.

Somalia's Islamic radicals closed down a second radio station today, just days after introducing strict new laws for the media in the war ravaged country.

Protesters in a key Somali port held a second day of demonstrations against a local administration set up by the Islamic militia that has seized control of much of the country’s south.

Fears of regional conflict has soared with the loss of a strategic port to Somalia’s radical Islamic militia, which faced angry demonstrations that erupted into deadly violence, and for the first time acknowledged getting help from foreign Muslims.

Hundreds of Islamic militiamen in heavily armed trucks took over the southern town of Kismayo, one of the last seaports that had been outside their control in Somalia, witnesses said.

The mother of a Somalian national, whose headless corpse was discovered in Dublin’s Royal Canal, may travel to Ireland to aid the garda investigation into her son’s death, it emerged today.

Somali gunmen are holding more than 20 Kenyan fishermen and eight Russians hostage after commandeering two trawlers near the southern port of Kismayo.