President Joe Biden has approved a request by the Pentagon to redeploy US troops to Somalia in an effort to counter the terrorist group al-Shabaab, a senior administration official said on Monday.

Chadian police fired tear gas and used water canon to disperse hundreds of protesters who took to the streets of the capital and other towns in an anti-French protest that saw the destruction of some French-linked businesses.

Somalia's parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country's tenth president on Sunday, in a vote broadcast live on national TV.