Al-Qaida-linked rebels pounded in Somalia

The withdrawal of Islamist insurgents from Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, is a major gain for the shaky Western-backed Transitional Federal Government and comes as the United States is stepping up a covert war against the group that's linked to al-Qaida.

As the Americans escalate counter-terrorism operations in Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, they have also stepped up covert airstrikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia, a failed state that has been gripped by clan warfare and anarchy for more than two decades.

U.S. officials say the Somali organization, which pledged loyalty to Osama bin Laden's successor and longtime deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri in June, is developing stronger ties with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen.

There have been at least three airstrikes against al-Shabaab in recent weeks. The first was April 6, when a jihadist commander was killed in the southern town of Dhobley. Some reports said 35 fighters were slain.