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Somalia crisis: Dawn offensive against al-Shabab | Somalia crisis: Dawn offensive against al-Shabab |
(40 minutes later) | |
Pro-government forces have launched a major dawn offensive in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to seize territory from al-Shabab Islamist militants. | Pro-government forces have launched a major dawn offensive in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to seize territory from al-Shabab Islamist militants. |
Some 1,000 soldiers backed up by 20 tanks captured three al-Shabab bases, a senior security official said. | Some 1,000 soldiers backed up by 20 tanks captured three al-Shabab bases, a senior security official said. |
A BBC correspondent in the city says it is the biggest joint government-African Union offensive since August 2011. | |
Al-Shabab is under attack on several fronts, with troops from Kenya and Ethiopia also gaining ground recently. | |
The AU said this was the first offensive it had taken part in outside Mogadishu. | |
Troops from Djibouti have recently arrived in Mogadishu to bolster the 12,000-strong AU force, while the AU is asking the UN to approve a further 50% increase in troop numbers. | |
Al-Shabab controls many southern and central areas of the country. | |
The al-Qaeda linked group made a "tactical withdrawal" from most of the capital last year but has continued to stage suicide attacks in the city. | |
It confirmed that the pro-government forces had gained territory but vowed to hit back. | |
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says this operation appears to be a concerted effort to clear the Islamist militants right away from the Somali capital. | BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says this operation appears to be a concerted effort to clear the Islamist militants right away from the Somali capital. |
But he says this conflict no longer has front lines and with al-Shabab carrying out suicide bomb attacks it will still be very difficult to make Mogadishu safe. | But he says this conflict no longer has front lines and with al-Shabab carrying out suicide bomb attacks it will still be very difficult to make Mogadishu safe. |
On Thursday, six people were killed by a suicide bomb attack in a refugee camp. | |
The victims included a security guard and a local aid worker, witnesses said. | |
The bomb exploded just 20 minutes after a team of international journalists had left the Mogadishu camp. | |
They had gone to the city to see the situation six months after the famine was first declared in parts of the country. | |
About 300,000 people have since flooded into the city to seek food and shelter, as al-Shabab has banned most international aid agencies from areas they control. | |
The UN says a quarter of a million Somalis were still suffering from the famine and the crisis was likely to continue for the next six or seven months. |