(Adds U.N. monitoring group recommendations, diplomats, paragraphs 7-9) By John Irish PARIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Somalia's president said on Friday that nobody close to him had been involved in the unauthorised diversion of government weapons to Islamist militants and denied that a man U.N inve...

Mogadishu, 16 October 2014 – The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (SRSG), Nicholas Kay, condemned last night’s bomb attack outside a popular restaurant in Mogadishu resulting in the death and injury of many people.

More than 150 families displaced from Tiyeglow and its surroundings have settled in a new IDP camp on the outskirts of Baidoa. The IDPs, who are mostly women and children, have been displaced by fighting between Al-Shabaab fighters and the Somali government troops in parts of Bakol region. The...

(Adds al Shabaab claim of responsibility, background) By Feisal Omar MOGADISHU, Oct 15 (Reuters) - At least five people were killed and several wounded when a car bomb planted by Islamist militant group al Shabaab exploded near restaurants on a busy street in the Somali capital on Wednesday. ...

MOGADISHU, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in the Somali capital on Wednesday evening, causing some casualties, a witness said, but it was not clear how many people were injured or killed.

A woman bleeds from the head after being struck by a police officer after residents placed roadblocks on a street to demand faster removal of dead bodies infected with Ebola virus in the Aberdeen district of Freetown, Sierra Leone, October 14, 2014. REUTERS/Josephus Olu-Mammah

Preliminary Appeal Somalia Drought and Food insecurity in Somalia – SOM141 Preliminary Appeal Target: US${esc.dollar} 2,797,367 Balance Requested: US${esc.dollar} 2,732,767 Geneva, 14 October 2014 The humanitarian situation in Somalia remains dire with drought alerts being sounded....

FREETOWN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A battalion of 800 Sierra Leone soldiers awaiting deployment as peacekeepers in Somalia has been placed in quarantine after one of its members tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus, military officials said on Tuesday. The soldiers were due to relieve the West Afr...

A Somali government soldier holds his position against suspected militants during an attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 31, 2014. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

At least six people have been killed by a car bomb in the Somali capital Mogadishu, a police officer has said. Police officer Major Nuur Farah said that several wounded people were taken to hospital after Sunday's blast near a popular hotel and cafe. "Now I see six dead bodies," he said. "W...