UK probes Somalia terror reports

Islamist forces have been quickly overwhelmed

The Foreign Office is investigating reports that British nationals may have been injured or captured in recent fighting in Somalia.

Despite months of recent successes for Islamist fighters in the African nation, they have been overwhelmed by Ethiopian-backed government forces.

A French newspaper quoted the Ethiopian prime minister as saying that fighters from the UK were among the casualties.

The US has launched air strikes against al-Qaeda suspects in Somalia.

"Many international terrorists are dead in Somalia," Meles Zenawi was quoted by Le Monde as saying.

"Photographs have been taken and passports from different countries have been collected. The Kenyans are holding Eritrean and Canadian passport holders.

"We have injured people coming from Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan, the United Kingdom."

The Foreign Office said: "We take these reports very seriously and will do everything we can to look into them.

"We are in constant touch with the Ethiopian and Somalian governments and will look into this matter."