AU and Somali forces capture Al-Shabab key town
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
March 2, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Somali government and African Union peacekeeping forces (AMISOM) on Friday launched an attack against al-Shabaab insurgents, capturing Maslah, a town just 5km from Mogadshu.
Maslah is believed to be the remaining key strategic pocket for the al-Qaeda-linked group.
The group had been controlling nearly all of the capital and most of southern and central Somalia.
In a statement AMISOM said it will “extend the city’s defences and deny the al-Qaeda backed terrorists important ground from which they have been targeting the city’s population”.
Since Ethiopian forces re-entered Somalia in December and launch attacks alongside Somali forces, they have taken strategic towns of Beledweyne and Baidoa. Kenyan troops have also seized al-Shabab positions in the south.
In the past, al-Shabab fighters were believed to have informal links with al-Qaeda. In February al-Shabab announced their union officially.
Somalia has had no effective government since 1991 and the larger parts of the country were in the hands of Al-Shabab rebels and other armed groups.
(ST)