Blast during UN visit to Somalia

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.

John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, is the highest ranking UN official to visit Mogadishu in more than a decade. His tour of the city and his meeting with president Abdullahi Yusuf was delayed briefly when the blast near the compound prompted a series of security briefings.