Nairobi/Mogadishu  - A Ugandan soldier from the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Somalia was killed Friday by a bomb near the airport in the capital Mogadishu, an AU spokesman said.

The AU spokesman speaking from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa described the killing as "cowardly and barbaric." The soldier was searching the street for explosive devices when the blast occurred.

The AU mission in Somalia currently has 2,600 troops from Uganda and Burundi. The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by chaos and civil war since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.

On Wednesday Somalia called on the UN Security Council to deploy an international peacekeeping force without delay to end its 17-year- old civil war.

Meanwhile the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern about the number of children and young people being killed in the country. In the past week alone seven children and young people were killed in fighting between Islamist rebels and government troops and their Ethiopian allies.

UNICEF said more than 150 children have been killed in violence in Somalia over the past year. (dpa)