The United Nations has confirmed that the UN Development Programme (UNDP) compound in northern Somalia was attacked this morning, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries.

"At approximately at 10 o'clock this morning the UNDP compound in Hargeysa, Somaliland, was hit by an explosion, caused by a vehicle which forced entry into the compound," according to a statement issued by the Office of the UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, which is based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"There are known casualties as well as deaths, but the numbers are currently being verified. Medical evacuation of the injured is ongoing," it added.

The UN said it is aware of reports of other explosions in the Hargeysa area, as well as in Puntland. These have not involved UN premises.

Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, has been wracked with violence in recent months, despite the signing of a UN-brokered peace deal between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the rebel Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) aimed at ending the fighting.