An attack by MIG fighter aircraft from Ethiopia has closed Mogadishu International Airport. Just 12 miles from the Somali capital it only re-opened in July after an 11-year shut down. Balidogle, the alternative, and 70 miles northwest of Mogadishu was also attacked. There are no direct flights to Mogadishu from Europe although OAG does list services from Nairobi.
The situation in Somalia is fluid, the country not having an effective government since warlords overthrew long-time dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Two years ago, the United Nations helped set up a central government for the arid, impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa. A fundamentalist Islamic alliance seized the capital and much of southern Somalia in June. Christian Ethiopia is supporting this regime which now appears to have taken the initiative against the rebels and is reported to have re-taken Mogadishu.