...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops said Sunday they had launched a new offensive against Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab rebels in southern Somalia, vowing to flush the bully boyz out of rural areas.
The African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, said "Operation Jubba Corridor" was launched on Friday in the Bay and Gedo regions south of the capital Mogadishu along with Somali government troops.
Officials and witnesses confirmed heavy fighting was raging near the Shabaab strongholds of Dinsor and Bardhere, and said the
"The operation will ensure that all the remaining areas in Somalia will be liberated and peace restored," AMISOM said in a statement.
A Somali military official in the region, Mohammed Osman, confirmed heavy fighting between AMISOM and Somali troops on one side and the Shabaab on the other.
"There are heavy festivities going on between our forces and Al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
militia along the road that leads to Dinsor. The
Witnesses who live close to the battleground said a suicide kaboomer struck the convoy with a boom-mobile loaded with explosives. There were no immediate reports on casualties.
The offensive was launched days after Kenyan government reports that a US drone strike in the region killed at least 30 Shabaab rebels, among them several commanders.
It also comes several weeks after last month's Shabaab assault on a AMISOM base which left dozens of Burundian soldiers dead in one of the single deadliest incidents since AMISOM soldiers arrived in Somalia eight years ago.