AU Somalia force in first deployment outside Mogadishu

African Union troops deployed in the Somali city of Baidoa Thursday, the first time the force has dispatched troops outside Mogadishu since it was set up five years ago. The AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) sent 100 Burundian and Ugandan soldiers to the southern town of Baidoa, which Ethiopian troops captured from the Al Qaeda-allied Shebab militia in February. "These 100 soldiers are the advance team for 2,500 AMISOM troops that will be deployed in phases. This team will be stationed alongside Ethiopian troops in Baidoa," mission spokesman Paddy Ankunda said in a statement. Baidoa, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, was the seat of Somalia's transitional parliament until the hardline Shebab captured it three years ago. The AU force now numbering some 10,000 soldiers from Burundi, Djibouti and Uganda first deployed to Mogadishu in 2007 where it has been battling the Shebab insurgents seeking to overthrow the fragile Western-backed government. "Today is a major step forward for the African Union Mission and for everyone who wants to see peace in Somalia," said Audace Nduwumunsi, the deputy force commander. He added that the AU troops will gradually replace Ethiopian forces in the regions captured from the Shebab. Kenyan troops have also been authorised to integrate the AU force after the UN Security Council boosted its maximum capacity to 17,731 in February. Nairobi said last month it will avail 4,660 soldiers for the AU mission. The Shebab are facing a broad offensive by regional forces, with Kenyan troops battling them in the far south and Ethiopian troops in the southern and western Somalia regions. In recent months, Ethiopian troops have seized four Shebab bastions. Nduwumunsi termed the widening AU deployment as "the sharp end of the spear that will drive into the heart of territories controlled by Al Qaeda-backed extremists." The Shebab in August abandoned fixed bases in the capital city after a four-year battle to topple the Western-backed government. The rebels have now reverted to guerrilla tactics. "They are losing ground and losing friends all over Somalia," said Nduwumunsi. The AU troops have advanced to Mogadishu districts formerly controlled by the Islamist rebels, but have faced deadly suicide and grenade attacks. On Wednesday, Somalia's Olympic committee chief and the football federation president were among four people killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up in Mogadishu's national theatre. The Shebab claimed responsibility. The absence of an effective government in Somalia since it plunged into a civil war two decades ago has allowed armed groups, pirate gangs and extremist militia to carve up the country into mini fiefdoms. Although the Shebab have lost ground recently, analysts warn that they still remain a serious threat to efforts to restore stability in Somalia.