A cargo plane that had delivered equipment for Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu was shot down today by a missile during takeoff at the Somali capital's airport and crashed in flames.
An airport worker said the Russian-built plane was shot down by a missile.
Capt. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia, said he had heard reports of a plane crash but could not confirm them.
The plane crash came at the end of a particularly violent week in Mogadishu that killed dozens of people, most of them civilians.
Much of the violence halted today as a truce took effect between military officials from Ethiopia, which sent troops to neighboring Somalia last year to help overthrow the Islamic movement that had overtaken much of the country, and elders of the dominant clan in Somalia's capital.
However, sporadic gunfire could be heard around the former defense ministry building in southern Mogadishu, which has been one of the front lines in the two days of fighting.
One civilian was killed early today, possibly by a stray bullet, said Mohamed Barre Olad, who lives near the former defense ministry headquarters. Olad saw the body as he walked home. He said he saw also a wounded man being taken to a hospital in a wheelchair.
An elder, Mohammed Ibrahim Aden, said 25 Hawiye clan elders met with "several Ethiopian (military) officials" late yesterday and agreed to stop hostilities and begin talks.
"We have asked the Ethiopian officials to pull their troops back from front line areas and force government troops to do the same," Aden said. "We have also promised on our part to pull our fighters back from the battle fronts."
Meanwhile, Kenya deported more than 100 people from 19 countries to Somalia after they illegally crossed the border between the two countries during fighting earlier this year. The deportees were subsequently arrested by Ethiopian troops, a human rights group said today.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991. The current administration has failed to assert control throughout the country, and the African Union has deployed a small peacekeeping force to defend it.
AP