African Union and Somali government troops battled Shebab rebels in the capital Mogadishu yesterday, as torrential rains hampered Kenyan troops attacking Islamist positions in the south.

Heavy fighting broke out before dawn in Mogadishu as AU-backed Somali forces advanced on holdout Islamist Shebab positions, officials and witnesses said.

“We are moving towards the final strongholds of the terrorist militants, and we hope we will be taking control of the whole city soon,” Ibrahim Abdalla, a Somali security officer said.

The fighting was centered in the northwest Deynile suburb, a remaining pocket still held by the Al-Qaeda linked militants in war-torn Mogadishu.

“Our forces are now in control of most parts in Deynile,” he added.

African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) troops and government forces have been pushing into remaining rebel areas in Mogadishu, after the bulk of the Shebab abandoned fixed positions in August.

“We have no casualties on our side except two soldiers who were slightly injured, but the enemy left several of their dead bodies,” Mr Abdalla said.

“We are moving forward until we eliminate them completely.”

Despite largely withdrawing from the capital, the Shebab still control large swathes of southern and central Somalia, and remain a serious security threat to the city.

Shebab fighters in southern Somalia are also facing assaults from Kenyan troops and tanks backed by air strikes since Nairobi declared war on the insurgents and confirmed it had moved its forces into Somalia on Sunday.

Kenya’s military said yesterday it had seized the coastal area of Ras Kamboni without a fight, a former Shebab stronghold just across the Somali border.

Its capture is a step forward to “clear the Shebab and pirates on Somali waters from Ras Kamboni to Kismayo,” said Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir, referring to a strategic rebel-held port city.

However, analysts warn that Kenya would face major battles to take Kismayo, a key rebel logistics base some 180 kilometres up the coast.

Inland, Major Chirchir said troops were bogged down by “heavy rains” some 100 kilometres inside Somalia, as they prepared to push forward to seize the town of Afmadow, where Somali government forces were fighting.

But Nairobi’s unprecedented military incursion into Somalia, which it said had already killed dozens of Shebab fighters, triggered warnings of bloody retaliation by the Shebab.

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