The first major commercial airline in more than 20 years has landed at Mogadishu airport in war-torn Somalia.

索马里20多年来久经战乱，近日摩加迪休机场迎来首个商业航班的降落。

Turkish Airlines says it is the start of a regular service to the Somali capital, the first by an international carrier from outside East Africa.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bosdag was on board the flight, which was welcomed by the Somali president.

The twice-weekly flights should make travel easier for Somali businessmen and members of the large diaspora（离散的犹太人） .

Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than two decades and has been riven by factional fighting.

Islamist militants¹ were pushed out of the capital by Africa Union and government forces last August - although they have continued to stage attacks in the city.

Singing and dancing

The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in Mogadishu says security was tight and the main roads leading to the airport were blocked off ahead of the flight.

The plane was greeted by a large Somali government delegation², including President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as well as UN officials and ambassadors.

"Today is a big day for Somalia," Somali government spokesperson, Abdisalam Mohamud, said.

The flight follows a visit to Mogadishu last year by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who said he wanted to challenge the idea that the Somali capital was a no-go area.

The start of the service was announced by Turkey's foreign minister during last month's international conference on Somalia in London hosted by the UK government.

World leaders have pledged to boost support for measures to fight piracy³, terrorism and political stability in Somalia by substantially increasing international funding for the African Union military operation in the country and working more closely together.

Our reporter says a group of women were singing and dancing as the plane touched down on the tarmac（停机坪） .