Somali government troops backed by African Union peacekeepers on Monday took over key rebel bastion in the north of Mogadishu following clashes with diehard Islamist rebel fighters, two months after radical insurgent group said it withdrew from the Somali capital.

The Somali government forces backed by AU peacekeepers fanned into key areas that had been under rebel control in the northwestern part of Mogadishu and following brief resistance by radical fighters from the rebel al Shabaab government forces took over the areas, a top government official said.

"The anti-peace elements were eliminated from this part of Mogadishu and we will chase them out of their hiding places in the city's environs," Omar Abdule, senior local government official told reporters.

No casualty figures from either side was immediately available as sporadic clashes still continued in a number of areas on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif on Saturday vowed that the government forces will "clean Mogadishu" of Islamist fighters of al Shabaab.

Al Shabaab fighters have remained in outlying districts of the Somali capital after they retreated from much of Mogadishu in August, terming their move as tactical.

Somali government officials said they plan to drive remnants of the insurgent fighters from their bastions in the environs of Mogadishu where they said the fighters plan their suicide attacks on targets of government and AU forces.

The government troops on Sunday took over the northeastern district of Karan in Mogadishu which has been one of the rebel's last bastions following their August retreat from the Somalia.

Over 70 people were killed and almost 150 others were injured mostly civilians including students after suicide truck bomb attack targeted government ministries including that of education where dozens of students were waiting for an exam result for a foreign scholarship.

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