Al shabab advancing

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whers is the ethiopian and abdlahi yusuf

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Islamists dismantle pro-government roadblocks in south Somalia


MOGADISHU, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Islamist fighters from Somalia's hardline al Shabaab group chased pro-government militia from roadblocks across the south of the country on Friday in their latest show of strength.

Al Shabaab gunmen seized the strategic southern port of Kismayu last month after days of fighting, and residents say they have been expanding their area of control ever since.

"Al Shabaab has removed the militia checkpoints from Kismayu up to Kilometre 50. We now travel peacefully," Abdirahman Hussein, a local driver, told Reuters, referring to a point 50 km (31 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.

"The militias used to force us to pay fees at each roadblock, and sometimes they robbed our passengers. Now we pass in peace and pay nothing," he said.

Al Shabaab officials could not be reached for comment.

Since the start of last year, the rebels have waged an Iraq-style insurgency of mortar attacks, roadside bombings and assassinations targeting the fragile Western-back interim government and its Ethiopian military allies.

This year, Washington officially listed the group as a terrorist organisation with close ties to al Qaeda.

Al Shabaab has also threatened to shoot down any planes that try to land at Mogadishu's international airport and no aircraft have attempted to use it since the group's Tuesday deadline.

On Friday, the government's director of civil aviation said it had cancelled the licences of all airlines that had heeded the "unimportant and baseless" threats from the Islamists.

Fighting in Somalia has killed more than 9,500 civilians since last year, and an unknown number of combatants. More than 1 million people have been forced from their homes.

Washington sees the country as a training ground for extremists and says radical Islamist leaders have made much of it a safe haven for high level suspects, including the bombers of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania a decade ago.

U.S. military forces have launched several air strikes inside Somalia in recent months.

Asha Osman, a mother of six, said al Shabaab's removal of the roadblocks was positive. But she feared a northern advance of the group towards the capital might bring more trouble.

"Who can stand the bombardment of U.S. planes?" she asked.