Somalia Islamists, Al-Shabab,  driven out of Mogadishu

African Union (AU) troops say they have driven Islamist al-Shabab militants out of Mogadishu, their last stronghold in the north of Somalia's capital.

AU’s General Fred Mugisha said Somali government forces also took part in the offensive.

Reports say one African Union soldier and eight civilians were killed in the fighting.
Al-Shabab still controls large swathes of south and central Somalia.

General Mugisha told newsmen: “We have managed to push out al-Shabab from Mogadishu main city. As I am talking to you, we control the whole of Mogadishu main city, yes."

AMISOM spokesman Lt. Colonel Paddy Ankunda said the objective had been to push the al-Shabab forces out of mortar range of civilians.

He was quoted as saying "The outer north and eastern fringes of the city must still be cleared, but key ground and buildings are no longer under the control of the extremists."

He added that a former pasta factory used by al-Shabab as an operations centre had been captured.

However, Al-Shabab is reported to still have a presence in the outlying district of Daynile.

Challenge

Ankunda said: "It has been a big achievement to remove al-Shabab from the city, and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives but the challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week."

Al-Shabab said it carried out a bomb attack last week which killed more than 80 people.

The group added that both the August pullout and Monday's loss of ground were tactical moves.

Analysts had however predicted that without a front line, the organization was likely to begin carrying out more bombings, including suicide attacks.

The al-Qaeda-linked group retreated from most of Mogadishu in August, following an offensive by AMISOM.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 - the weak transitional government and Islamist militias are competing for control of the country.

BBC/ Adekusibe/Ekata