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AU troops in Somalia makes gains
MOGADISHU: African Union troops in Somalia said Friday they took control of Al-Qaeda allied Al-Shabab insurgent bases on the outskirts of Mogadishu, the latest loss for the extremist fighters.

Burundian troops with the AU force seized areas of the capital’s Banadir district late Thursday, including securing the Deynile airstrip, part of long-running efforts to drive the militants from the city. Deynile commands access to the Afgoye corridor, an area some 30 kms northwest of Mogadishu which is controlled by Al-Shabab and is home to the world’s largest concentration of internally displaced people.

No Al-Shabab official was immediately available for comment.
They were fleeing running away.
Some 410,000 people, around one third of all the displaced people in Somalia, were still living in the Afgoye corridor at the start of the year, fleeing war or drought, according to figures from the UN refugee agency.

A regional offensive has forced the Al-Shabab from many of their strongholds, with Ethiopian troops fighting in the west, AU troops in Mogadishu pushing to the outskirts of the city, and Kenyan troops battling in the south. However, the Al-Shabab say they have now begun setting up new bases in Somalia’s northern Puntland region and deny being weakened by the assaults.
"Just a flesh wound!"

Posted by: Steve White 2012-04-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=343182