Somali militants vow revenge after fall of rebel bastion

MOGADISHU: Al-Qaeda-linked Somali militants vowed Saturday to intensify the war against government and African Union troops, despite the fall of their key stronghold of Afgoye, the latest in a string of military losses.

"God willing we will continue the war and we will win the battle without doubt," said Sheik Abdiaziz Abu Musab, spokesman for the hardline Shebab, a day after AU and Somali troops entered Afgoye, a former strategic rebel base.

The bulk of Shebab fighters left ahead of an advancing column of hundreds of AU and government troops, who launched a long-awaited assault on the town, which controls key roads some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu.

The loss of Afgoye is another major blow for the insurgents who have been on the backfoot for several months, although Shebab fighters said it was a tactical retreat.