As troops advance in Somalia, thousands flee
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In this Tuesday, May 22, 2012 photo released by the African Union-United Nations Support Team, soldiers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) take up positions along a road near, Deyniile, Somalia, during a joint AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) operation to seize and liberate territory from the al-Qaeda affiliated extremist group al-Shabaab. AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Guti on Wednesday announced the beginning of "Operation Free Shabelle" aimed at bringing security and economic revival to the 400,000 people of the Afgoye Corridor and beyond in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, located to the south and west of the country's capital Mogadishu. (AP Photo/AU-UN IST, Stuart Price)
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In this Tuesday, May 22, 2012 photo released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, a soldier serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) takes up a position along a road near Deyniile, Somalia, during a joint AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) operation to seize and liberate territory from the al-Qaeda affiliated extremist group al-Shabaab. AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Guti on Wednesday announced the beginning of "Operation Free Shabelle" aimed at bringing security and economic revival to the 400,000 people of the Afgoye Corridor and beyond in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, located to the south and west of the country's capital Mogadishu. (AP Photo/African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, Stuart Price)
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In this Tuesday, May 22, 2012 photo released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, a soldier with the Somali National Army (SNA) walks along a road near Deyniile, Somalia, during a joint AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) operation to seize and liberate territory from the al-Qaeda affiliated extremist group al-Shabaab. AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Guti on Wednesday announced the beginning of "Operation Free Shabelle" aimed at bringing security and economic revival to the 400,000 people of the Afgoye Corridor and beyond in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, located to the south and west of the country's capital Mogadishu. (AP Photo/African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, Stuart Price)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Thousands of people in speeding trucks or pulling carts piled high with clothes and furniture are fleeing a region north of Mogadishu amid gunfire and explosions.
This week, African Union and Somali troops moved into the Afgoye corridor for the first time in years to pursue Islamist militants of al-Shabab, a group allied with al-Qaida.
Heavily armed soldiers and tanks were massing on scrubland on the edge of Afgoye town from where militants were staging their resistance. Military officials predict they will soon control the town as civilians fled on Thursday.
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