An artillery barrage at daybreak poured down on a northeast district -- which AU forces claim was already largely abandoned by civilians -- before tanks and ground troops moved into the area.
"We have advanced on their last positions in Suqaholaha district, taking control of key locations," said Somali military commander Abdulahi Ali Anod.
"The terrorist remnants... are now on the run," he added.
The assault was the latest in a long-running offensive to drive the Al-Qaeda allied Shebab from holdout positions, after most of the insurgents last year left fixed defences in Mogadishu and switched to guerrilla attacks.
The Suqaholaha neighborhood is the last main Shebab stronghold in the anarchic capital, and the attack comes two weeks after AU troops launched a similar offensive in southern Mogadishu.
"Today`s operation has successfully extended the city`s defences," said Ugandan Major General Fred Mugisha, commander of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
It "will deny the terrorists important ground from which they have been attacking the population," Mugisha said in a statement, adding that two AU troops were injured during the fighting.
Extremist Shebab gunmen have been fighting to topple the weak Western-backed Somali government in Mogadishu, where the administration survives under the protection of the 10,000-strong AU force.
Somalia has had no effective government since 1991 and in recent years the Shebab rebels and other groups have taken an increasing hold on large parts of the country. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
