African force in Mogadishu makes major gains/ Al-shabaab takes away TV sets and equipments from Jowhar residents

The African Union's Somalia Mission (AMISOM) has made major gains against Islamist rebels in intense fighting in Mogadishu, with sporadic gunfire continuing around the main market, sources said Friday.

Somali government forces supported by AMISOM troops "on Thursday captured the Damanyo military camp also known as Shirkole Ofishiale, the last remaining outpost" of the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab in the western part of Mogadishu, AMISOM spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda said in a statement.

"This gives the Somali government full control over Terebunka Road," a major thoroughfare that links the north of the city to a strategic crossroads in the centre, the statement said.

An AFP correspondent in Mogadishu confirmed MISOM's advance.

Thursday's fighting left at least 17 civilians dead. No casualty figures were available for fighters on either side.

Sporadic gunfire could still be heard Friday in the area where the fighting took place.

Terebunka Road controls the western access to Bakara market, the biggest market in the city and a major source of revenue for the Shebab.

"The road will soon be reopened to civilian traffic once mopping-up operations to ensure safety are complete," AMISOM Chief of Staff Colonel Innocent Oula said.

AMISOM, now made up of some 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops, has been deployed in Mogadishu since 2007 to support the fragile transitional government of Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

In a series of operations carried out since late February, AMISOM troops have pushed back the Shebab on the two main front lines in Mogadishu and now control around half of the capital.

AMISOM's Burundian contingent, deployed in the north of the city, and its Ugandan contingent, closer to the centre, "have linked up and are presenting a common front," Oula said.

Somali pro-government forces, made up of the army as well as clan and religious militia groups, have played a marginal role in the advances.
Al-shabaab takes away TV sets and equipments from Jowhar residents

The Al-Shabaab militias in Jowhar, the provincial capital of Middle Shabelle region, have taken away a TV set from a family in the city, accusing them of watching the Somali National TV.
The militias entered the house of the family and took away TV sets, arresting one family member in the course.
The residents of Jowhar are expressing unhappiness over the constant harassment by the Al-shabaab who started to take the properties of the public.
It seems the militias are turning their rage on the residents after they were mostly flushed out of Mogadishu. With source of livelihood and finance sealed, the only options they had was to turn on the public who themselves have nothing to offer.