UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon vowed that despicable attack on a UN compound in Somalia, which killed nine people, would not end its mission in the troubled country.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon vowed that despicable attack on a UN compound in Somalia, which killed nine people, would not end its mission in the troubled country.

Ban telephoned Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud soon after the attack, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

"The secretary general said the United Nations would not be deterred from delivering its mandate," said Nesirky, in a statement released from Beijing where Ban is on an official visit.

He said Ban was "deeply concerned and outraged by the despicable attack".
The 15-nation Security Council also expressed outrage -- but stressed its resolve "that terrorist acts in Somalia will not lessen the council's resolve to support Somalia's transition to peace and stability".

Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents killed nine people as they shot and blasted their way into the UN compound in Mogadishu Wednesday, the most serious attack on the United Nations there in recent years.

Three foreigners including two South Africans in the UN compound died, along with a Somali UN worker, two Somali security guards and three civilians in the surrounding streets, officials said. Seven attackers also died in the assault.