U.N. Security Council approves boost to Somalia peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council authorized an increase of more than 4,000 peacekeepers in Somalia on Tuesday so the U.N.-backed African force can boost its fight against al Shabaab militants who have shifted tactics and expanded their reach.

Somalia is struggling to rebuild after two decades of civil war and lawlessness sparked by the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. A U.N.-backed African Union peacekeeping mission - known as AMISOM - was deployed in 2007, more than a decade after initial U.N. peacekeeping missions in the country failed.