Somali and African Troops Hit Rebel Posts in Mogadishu

索马里和非洲军队打击了叛军在摩加迪沙的据点

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Government and African Union forces began a heavy offensive early on Friday against insurgent strongholds on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu, trying to drive the Islamic militants they have long battled out of the city, officials and witnesses said.

摩加迪沙，索马里 – 有官员和目击者透露，政府军和非盟军队在本周五对首都摩加迪沙郊外的叛军据点发起了猛烈进攻，企图将与之长期作战的伊斯兰武装分子赶出这座城市。

African Union and government forces said they took over strategic positions controlled by the militants, known as the Shabab, seizing Mogadishu University, a milk factory and a cemetery and advancing toward a major strategic road that connects Afgoye and Balad. If taken, it could be a major setback to the Shabab by cutting off their supply line.

非盟和政府联军说他们从名为沙巴比的武装分子手中夺取了有战略意义的位置，占领了摩加迪沙大学，一座牛奶厂和一个墓地，并且朝一条有重要战略意义的公路推进，这条公路连接了Afgoye和Balad. 这个地方如果被拿下，即切断了沙巴比的供给线，将是对他们的一次重创。

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the African Union force, said that the allied troops had managed to consolidate their positions in the northern edges of Mogadishu, allowing them to defend the city along its perimeter.

非盟军队的新闻发言人Paddy Ankunda说：联军已经设法加强了其在摩沙迪加北部边缘的据点，使得他们能够沿着周边防线保卫这座城市。

“This is the first time Amisom has been able to secure an area outside the parameters of the city,” he told reporters on Friday, referring to the African Union mission in Somalia.

提及非盟在索马里的特派团，他告诉记者，这是非盟特派团（AMISOM）第一次能够保卫城市范围以外的区域。

Col. Abdullahi Ali Anood of the Somali Army’s Second Brigade said that the government forces and African Union troops were now heading toward the strategic Basra Road, nearly 10 miles north of Mogadishu.

索马里部队第二旅上校阿卜杜拉辛.阿里.阿诺德上校说道：政府军及非盟部队正摩加迪沙北部十公里的战略要道--巴士拉公路开进。

The fighting was the heaviest of its kind in recent weeks and started during the early hours of Friday in northern parts of the Yaqshid neighborhood, with a heavy exchange of artillery fire that rocked Mogadishu.

此次战斗是近几周最激烈的一次，始于周五早上在与雅克斯达邻近的北部地区的连续几个小时交火，战斗中炮火的激烈交互惊动了摩加迪沙。