Militants retreat from Mogadishu little relief for famine refugees

The Al-Shabab Islamist militants fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed government have begun abandoning their bases in the capital Mogadishu. African peacekeepers and Somali government forces have been steadily wresting control of the rubble-strewn capital from the militants this year.

However the militants remain in control of large swathes of the south preventing aid agencies from reaching tens of thousands of famine victims in the Horn of African nation.

On Friday 7 refugees were killed while trying to receive aid from the United Nation's World Food Programme on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

3 other Somalis were also killed in the fire-fight that broke out in the refuge camp when Somali troops and residents looted truckloads of food meant for famine victims.

Stephanie Savariaud is the World Food Programme spokesperson for the region. Speaking to Marie Duhamel from Nairobi she said About 100,000 refugees have reached the capital in the last two months and hundreds more are streaming into the city, hoping to escape the brunt of the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in decades. Listen: