SOMALIA: Fighting intensifies in war-torn capital Mogadishu as AU peacekeepers win territory from rebels

Record ID: 375394

  • Title: SOMALIA: Fighting intensifies in war-torn capital Mogadishu as AU peacekeepers win territory from rebels
  • Date: 30th July 2011
  • Summary: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (JULY 29, 2011) (REUTERS) AFRICAN UNION TROOPS REINFORCING THEIR LINES AFRICAN UNION TROOPS WAITING TO GO TO THE FRONTLINE AFRICAN UNION TANK WAITING TO BE DEPLOYED TO THE FRONTLINE AFRICAN UNION TROOPS FIGHTING MORE OF FIGHTING AFRICA UNION TANK FIRING SHELL SOMALI TROOPS FIGHTING TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT TROOPS HOLDING THEIR GUNS (SOUN
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia, Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Reuters ID: LVA4J1C6JRH2PAYXMLLNMBKBNW1N
  • Story Text: African Union troops with Somali government soldiers say they captured a strategic district in the capital Mogadishu from al Shabaab rebels after heavy fighting.
    The AU and government forces are attempting to stabilise the Horn of Africa nation which has without an effective central government for two decades.
    Regaining control of the heavily populated capital is essential to flushing the al Qaeda-affiliated militants out of Mogadishu but analysts warn the fight is likely to be hard and messy. Considered by Washington as al Qaeda's proxy in the region, al Shabaab is fighting to topple the beleaguered U.N.-backed government it says is a puppet of the West and impose a strict version of sharia law on the country.
    AU force AMISOM has been fighting alongside government troops and is gradually gaining ground, although al Shabaab fighters are still holding the main Bakara Market in Mogadishu.
    Somalia Transitional Government forces commander Hassan Mohamed Hussein said they had gained a strategic district within Mogadishu.
    "Our forces are gaining a lot of ground as you can see now I am in Wardhigley district. We have requested our forces treat the people well and we were welcomed to their homes after overcoming the enemy." said TFG commander Hassan Mohamed Hussein.
    Somalia has been bogged down in violence and awash with weapons since the overthrow of a dictator in 1991, with warlords and now Islamist militants stepping into the power vacuum, and allowing piracy to flourish off the country's shores.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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