Marine killed

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - A US Marine was shot and killed in Mogadishu yesterday, during a clash near the airport, the first US military casualty in the operation in Somalia, the Defense Department said.

The details of the shooting and the dead marine's identity were not immediately known, said Navy Lieutenant-Commander Joe Gradisher, a Pentagon spokesman.

A US government civilian worker was killed in Somalia on 27 December, when a vehicle in which he was riding struck a mine near the town of Bardera.