Corresponding reports from witnesses say that AU troops were seen along a road and in a farming area between the towns of Afgoye and Bal’ad, while noting that Al-Shabab did not have a major presence in the area Monday.
The AU Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, said in a statement that it launched the operation after receiving information that Al-Shabab was “destabilizing” a key road linking Mogadishu to Ballidogle airport, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the capital.
The Somali government pledged the new offensive after the Oct. 14 truck bomb in Mogadishu that killed 358 people with 56 others missing and presumed dead.
