Somalia takes the fight to militant group July 28, 2011 | By the CNN Wire Staff

Somali government forces launched an offensive on Islamist strongholds in Mogadishu Thursday morning, killing 15 members of the al Qaeda-inspired group Al-Shabaab, a military commander said.

Speaking to state radio, Col. Abdullahi Ali Anod, commander of the presidential palace, said the president ordered the offensive in northern Mogadishu.

Fighting has intensified this summer as Somali government forces -- backed by troops from the African Union -- have battled insurgents from the militant Al-Shabaab.

The fighting comes also as Somalia is battling its worst drought in 60 years and tens of thousands of famine-stricken people are walking for days into both Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food and water.

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