Gunfire hits Somalia aid plane

NAIROBI - A US military C-130 aircraft delivering relief supplies to Somalia was hit by gunfire from the ground yesterday, a US spokesman said in Nairobi.

One bullet hit the aircraft over Belet Huen, central Somalia. None of its crew was injured and the plane was not endangered. The aircraft was the first of three flying from Mombasa, in Kenya, to deliver relief food to Belet Huen.

'Security on the ground deteriorated during the off-loading of food,' he said. 'The plane was hit after it had taken off. The remaining flights were cancelled.' Brigadier General Frank Libutti, the officer commanding the US airlift to feed starving Somalis, has ordered the suspension of further flights to Belet Huen. The incident is being investigated.