Somalia, Islamic Extremists | featured news

The first Ugandan soldiers to fly into Somalia 5 1/2 years ago came under attack as soon as they arrived: Militants fired mortars at the new mission's welcome ceremony. Today, backed by a sweeping multinational effort that includes $338 million in U.S. equipment, wages and training, the force of Ugandans, Burundians, Kenyans and Somalis that was deployed to take on the country's Islamic radicals can claim a degree of success that had initially seemed highly unlikely.

The United States is providing weapons and ammunition to Somalia's transitional government as it fights al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday.

Reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia, and Nairobi, Kenya -- Islamic insurgents killed Somalia's top security minister and 22 other people today in a suicide car-bomb attack at a hotel frequented by government officials.