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African Union and Somali troops on Friday (May 25th) captured the key al-Shabaab stronghold of Afgoye, AFP reported.

"We have crossed the River Shabelle and we are now there in Afgoye, we hold the town," AMISOM spokesperson Paddy Ankunda told AFP. "There is some shooting here and there, but mostly it is calm."

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab fighters reportedly fled their key stronghold on Thursday ahead of an advancing column of government and African Union troops.

"We are a few kilometres away from Afgoye and, God willing, we will complete the mission very soon," AFP reported Somali military commander Gen. Abdulahi Osman as saying Thursday.

"We are not encountering much resistance and so far the enemy is fleeing," he added.

Al-Shabaab claimed to have repulsed the attack and boasted of killing several soldiers.

More than 400,000 people, around one third of all the displaced people in Somalia, were living in the Afgoye corridor at the start of the year, fleeing war or drought, according to the UN, which has warned civilians must be protected.

Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, urged all sides to "minimise the impact of conflict on civilians" and allow humanitarian access.

However, Somali army commanders said they were advancing on foot and avoiding the main road of the Afgoye corridor to allow civilians to leave the battle zone.

"The army is advancing with caution, and not aiming directly for the main tarmac road to give civilians access to leave amid the fighting," Osman said Thursday.

Afgoye is a strategic town that commands a road junction for routes to the north, west and south of Somalia. Its loss to al-Shabaab is another major blow for the group, which has been in retreat for several months.

AU and Somali troops have made significant gains in recent months against al-Shabaab militants, who have switched to guerrilla tactics in Mogadishu, including a series of suicide and grenade attacks.