Anti-government fighters now control large parts of Somalia [AFP]

Hizbul ul-Islam fighters marched into the town of Mahaday on Monday, a day after rebels from another group captured the nearby town of Jowhar.

"We have captured the town peacefully," Hassan Mahdi, Hizb ul-Islam's spokesman, told the Reuters news agency.

Mahaday, 23km north of Jowhar, the home town of Sharif Ahmed, the Somali president, was captured by "masked Islamists", Fatima Hussein, a resident, said.

"They are not speaking to anyone ... there was no fighting, the pro-government forces left last night."

The Somali government has been losing ground in recent weeks and now controls little more than the centre of the capital, Mogadishu, with the support of African Union troops.

Hizb ul-Islam is against the presence of AU troops in Somalia and has said it will battle them until they leave the country.

Al-Shabab, the other rebel group which seized control of Jowhar, is listed by the US state department as a "terrorist organisation" with links to al-Qaeda, a designation that the group denies.

Situation 'scandalous'

The clashes between government forces and rebel fighters have forced many Somalis to flee west across the border into Kenya.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said up to 5,000 people were arriving every month at three camps in Kenya's Dadaab area.

"The situation is simply scandalous," Joke Van Peteghem, the MSF head of mission in Kenya, said.

"These refugees have risked everything to escape the fighting in Somalia. Now some are telling us they would rather take their chances in Mogadishu than die slowly here."

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown by armed groups who then turned on each other.

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