20110305
reuters

MOGADISHU, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Somali government on Saturday said it recaptured the southern border town of Beledhawo from Islamist fighters of Al Shabaab following days of fierce battles. "Our forces are now fully in control of Beledhawo. We have succeeded in driving out the anti-peace forces from the town after they have been oppressing its people for long," Abdelhakim Mohamoud Haji Fiqi, Somali defense minister said in a news conference in Mogadishu.


The town of Beledhawo also known as Bulohawa is a small town in Gedo province near the border with Kenya which has been the scene of clashes between Somali government forces and allied militias and Islamist fighters from Al Shabaab which now controls much of the south and centre of Somalia.

Somali government has lately made gains from the Islamist fighters both in Mogadishu where the captured three key positions and the southern border town since the launch of much awaited offensive to drive the rebel forces out of their strongholds.

The Somali defense minister said that the government troops backed by African Union peacekeeping troops will continue to the major onslaught they have began early last month.

Islamist group of Al Shabaab have so far neither confirmed the town seizure by government forces nor denied it.

The fierce confrontation between the two sides during the past weeks left dozens of civilians dead and scores more wounded.

Both sides claimed to have inflicted have losses on each other with the Islamists saying they killed several AU and Somali government soldiers and taking one alive while AU commanders and Somali government officials said they killed a number of Islamist fighters.

Somali government which controls only few parts of the chaotic seaside capital wants to assert its authority in Islamist held areas in the south and centre of the war ravaged east African country.

The UN-backed Somali government has since the past year been planning to launch a major offensive to retake Islamist-run parts of the capital Mogadishu and the south and central provinces.