UN's Ban Ki-moon visits Somalia

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon is visiting the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the highest-ranking foreign official to go there in years.

Ban Ki-moon is the first UN head to visit Mogadishu for 20 years.

He was wearing a bulletproof vest as he was welcomed at the airport by Somalia's prime minister.

His visit comes a day after the fiercest clashes in the city for several months.

Islamist militants are battling the forces of the UN-backed government and African Union troops.

Somalia has been racked by war for two decades and has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

BBC/Waziri/Williams