20120624
Press TV
African Union (AU) troops and Somali government soldiers force al-Shabab fighters to cede more captured territory, Press TV reports.


On Friday, heavily-armed AU troops together with Somali soldiers liberated the coastal city of Elma’an, located 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of the national capital Mogadishu, as well as the Esaley Airstrip in the country's central region of Middle Shabelle from the fighters.

Losing both the port city and the airstrip marked another major blow to the fighters, who have been forced into defense for several months. However, they have vowed to intensify their war against the government and the AU troops.

In 2006, al-Shabab banned humanitarian groups from using the airstrip. Humanitarian access to the people in the Middle Shabelle region was seriously restricted as a result.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab for the past five years and is propped up by a 12,000-strong AU force from Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti.

Somalia is one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally-displaced people in the world.