New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday "strongly" condemned the recent violence aimed at overthrowing the transitional government in Somalia, which resulted in large number of civilian casualties.

Ban defended Somalia's transitional federal government, which survived several armed attacks in the past weeks, saying that the government's open door policy is directed at its opponents in a spirit of reconciliation.

"The secretary general is deeply concerned about the growing numbers of civilians killed, wounded and displaced as a result of these attacks," a UN spokesperson said.

"In the face of this ongoing threat to the peace process, Somalia's government is appealing for international assistance, and the secretary general wishes to strongly and urgently echo that appeal," Marie Okabe said.

"The secretary general believes there is a unique window of opportunity for peace in Somalia, but the situation is fragile and international assistance is needed now," she said.

Ban urged the international community to urgently meet financial and other forms of support recently pledged in Brussels to both the government of Somalia and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). (dpa)