Shebab rebels pull out of Mogadishu

The Somali capital has been "fully liberated" from Islamist Shebab rebels, the country's president said on Saturday.

Displaced people sit with their packed belongings as they prepare to flee Badbado settlement after two groups of Somalia government soldiers clashed inside the camp 5 August 2011. Reuters/Feisal Omar

"Mogadishu has been fully liberated from the enemy, and the rest of the country will soon be liberated too," Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told reporters.

Al-Shebab insurgents, who pledge allegiance to Al-Qaeda, abandoned several key positions in Mogadishu following reports of gun battles in the capital on Friday night.

African Union-backed government troops have been battling Shebab rebels in Mogadishu to secure aid delivery routes for victims of the drought affecting some 12 million people in Somalia.

The rebel group has banned aid groups from operating on their territory.

Its fighters are trying to overthrow the country's Western-backed transitional government, and control large areas of the south and centre of the country.

Until Saturday morning, government and AU troops controlled just over half of Mogadishu, including the airport and port, while the Shebab controlled the city's north-east.

Major Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the AU's AMISOM force in Somalia, said: "We're getting reports that they have pulled out from all their positions. We are still verifying”.

He said the AU is very "cautious" because the pull-out could be "a trap".