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.

The military operation is the latest in the ongoing battle to flush out al-Shabaab from its strong holds. Al-Shabaab is under fire from three fronts as Ethiopian forces in the west and Kenyan forces far in south are also attacking it. Experts say the group is recently weakened and is failing to confront the attacks.

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)