AU troops in Somalia say recovered stolen relief food from Al- Shabaab camp

Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-7-13 19:11:27

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Friday said their troops managed to recover stolen food aid from a key training camp captured this week from Al-Shabaab militants.

"Over 500 sacks of stolen relief food were among items recovered from a terrorist training camp captured by Somali government forces supported by African Union troops," the mission said in a statement.

Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeeping troops on Wednesday captured Lanta?\Buro village, the site of a major Al-Shabaab training camp.

AMISOM said the food, which was meant for humanitarian relief to the Somali people, had been confiscated by the Al Qaida?\ affiliated terror group, Al-Shabaab, who used it instead to feed militants at the camp in Lanta?\Buro, 40 km west of Mogadishu.

The food has been returned to the local people, the AU mission said.

Islamist group have banned humanitarian agencies from operating in areas under their control in southern and central Somalia where the latest East Africa famine was centered.

AMISOM said the continuing operations would enable aid agencies to access areas where they had been previously barred by the extremists.

"We are fulfilling our mandate to support the Somali peace process and create a conducive environment for the safe delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid," Andrew Gutti, AMISOM Force Commander said in a statement.

Officials accuse the radical group of imposing stricter version of the Islamist law or the Sharia in areas under their control. The group executes opponents and petty criminals while banning music and films and enforcing gender segregation in public venues.

Somali government forces and AU troops also recovered cache of weapons, which included machine guns and bomb making equipment from the Al-Shabaab base in Lanta Buro, AMISOM said.

The AU mission claimed to have killed 11 fighters and captured four others from Al-Shabaab, who have yet no comment on the taking of their camp.

The UN and AU authorized mission of over 17,000 troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Kenya are currently deployed in Somalia to help Somali government defeat Al-Shabaab and spread its authority throughout the horn of Africa nation.

Somali government forces and AMISOM troops have lately wrestled a number of key towns outside the capital from Al-Shabaab fighters.

Posted in: Africa

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