Mogadishu, 03 December, 2012- AMISOM is taking steps to enhance security along the road between the port city of Marka and Kilometre 50, following two failed attacks on a Somali government convoy.

A convoy carrying Interior Minister Abdulkarim Hussein Guled today encountered an improvised explosive device at Bufow. Yesterday, AMISOM and Somali forces successfully repelled an ambush by suspected al Shabaab terrorists on the same convoy as it approached Marka.

AMISOM Force Commander, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti, said that the safety of the Somali people would continue to be AMISOM’s top priority adding that the AU mission was working with the Somali Federal Government to ensure that security was restored to the area.

“Despite the remarkable success we have had in removing the al Shabaab from the major population centres in southern Somalia, these incidents serve as a reminder that we cannot afford to be complacent,” he said.

“AMISOM will continue to support the government in its efforts to build up the capacity of the Somali National Security Forces and to rid the country of the al Shabaab menace,” he added.

With AMISOM’s support, the Somali national forces have pushed the al Shabaab out most major urban centres in southern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu and the port cities of Marka and Kismayo, as well as many other towns and centres, creating the best chance Somalia has had in a generation to achieve a lasting peace and to establish legitimate and representative institutions.

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