STORY: SOMALIA / JAWHAR CAPTURED TRT: 2.

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DATELINE: 10 DECEMBER 2012, JAWHAR, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST: 1. Wide shot, people and soldiers on the road in Jawhar 2. Med shot, Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers on the road 3. Close up, SNA soldiers on technicals driving past 4. Wide shot, children on the road 5. Med shot, shot children cheering 6. Wide shot, AMISOM soldiers walking through a bush 7. Med shot, AMISOM Ugandan soldier walking 8. Wide shot, Somali Defense Minister taking a tour 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Abihakim Haji Mohamud Fiqi, Somali Minister of Defense: Al Shabaab have been defeated, they are on the run now and this victory will continue and this momentum will continue until we have freed or liberated the rest of Somalia, even the villages. 10. Wide shot, AMISOM troops look at a map 11. Med shot, hand pointing on the map 12. Close up, Jawhar location on the map 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier Michael Ondoga, AMISOM Uganda Contingent Commander: Jawhar is important in that it is one of the key areas where al Shabaab has control of the mind of the people, this is a big area; we have farmers here, they do a lot of agriculture and also a lot of pastoral farming. They raise money and al Shabaab has been getting zakat from them. How does al Shabaab get zakat, of cause it is by terrorizing them and this is the money he uses to run him operations. So removing Jawhar from al Shabaab is one way of killing his effort. 14. Med shot, Somali forces on technicals 15. Wide shot, technicals driving off 16. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier Michael Ondoga, AMISOM Uganda Contingent Commander:Capturing a town like this is just will a battle, but the bigger war is the war of the minds and hearts of people, because once you have the people with you,

then the war is over. 17. Med shot, donkey-carts moving 18. Med shot, people walking on the road 19. Wide shot, people at the market STORY: The Somali National Army with support from AMISOM troops captured Jawhar, one of the few remaining strongholds of al Shabaab in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia.Jawhar, which lies 90km north of the capital Mogadishu, had been under the control of the Islamic extremist militia group al Shabaab up until they were forced to flee the town on the 9th of December 2012. There was little resistance. Touring the town, the Somali Defense Minister congratulated the troops on the ground and commended them for the gains they are making in the fight against al Shabaab. SOUNDBITE (English) Abihakim Haji Mohamud Fiqi, Somali Minister of Defense: Al Shabaab have been defeated, they are on the run now and this victory will continue and this momentum will continue until we have freed or liberated the rest of Somalia even the villages. The radical group linked to al Qaeda has been loosing ground to the Somalia National Army (SNA) with support from the African Union troops whose mandate is to bring security to regions of Somalia after over 20 years of civil war. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier Michael Ondoga, AMISOM Uganda Contingent Commander: Jawhar is important in that it is one of the key areas where al Shabaab has control of the mind of the people, this is a big area; we have farmers here, they do a lot of agriculture and also a lot of pastoral farming. They raise money and al Shabaab has been getting zakat from them. How does al Shabaab get zakat, of cause it is by terrorizing them and this is the money he uses to run him operations. So removing Jawhar from al Shabaab is one way of killing his effort. Commercial activities across the country have improved and business has picked up taking advantage of the improved security situation over the last eighteen months in Somalia. Jawhar is a vital agricultural area whose produces feed the rest of the country. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier Michael Ondoga, AMISOM Uganda Contingent Commander:Capturing a town like this is just will a battle, but the bigger war is the war of the minds and hearts of people, because once you have the people with you, then the war is over. Somalia is emerging from 2 decades of conflict and is looking at nation building with a new president and cabinet in place. Government forces and AMISOM troops are expanding their control into of South and central Somalia.