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Somali and AMISOM troops are closing in on the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Afgoye, an AMISOM spokesman said on Wednesday (May 23rd).

"Our troops are doing well and the operation is going as planned," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda told the Shabelle Media Network, adding that they will soon capture the district. He said allied forces are just four kilometres from the district, 30 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu. He urged residents to stay in their homes.

Allied forces have made "significant" progress, according to an official AMISOM statement released on Wednesday.

The objective of "Operation Free Shabelle" is to "bring security to the 400,000 people of the Afgoye corridor", home of the largest concentration of internally displaced persons in the world, the statement said.

A senior al-Shabaab commander and his escort were killed during fighting on Tuesday, the statement said.

"The operation continues to make strong progress. Al-Shabaab terrorists are on the run," said Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti. "They know they are losing ground, and losing friends around Somalia. We encourage the people of Afgoye town to expel the foreign elements that lurk in their midst."