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NEW YORK - A six-month African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia has been authorised by the United Nations Security Council as the northeast African country spirals further into chaos.
The resolution, adopted unanimously, calls on the troops to take "all necessary measures" to provide government, infrastructure and humanitarian security and training for Somali security forces.
The council also asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate a possible UN peacekeeping operation after the deployment and to report back within 60 days with recommendations for further UN involvement in the country.
The resolution condemns "all acts of violence and extremism inside Somalia, deploring the recent bombings in Mogadishu and expressing its concern regarding the continued violence inside Somalia".
Somali forces backed by Ethiopia's military routed Islamist troops in a two-week war in the country, which has been in chaos since 1991 when it became a patchwork of feuding warlords after a dictator was ousted, over Christmas and New Year.
But near daily attacks blamed on ousted Islamist hard-liners have put pressure on the interim Government, which is struggling to restore stability so the Ethiopian troops can return home.
A wave of pre-dawn mortar attacks killed at least 16 people in Mogadishu yesterday in one of the worst bombardments since the Islamists were forced out.
- REUTERS
