Six Somali civilians killed in unrest

             
Six civilians were reported dead in war-ravaged Somalia after their bus was hit close to the front-line of Al-Qaeda Shebab fighters, witnesses told AFP Thursday.                

"Among the dead were two women, with five others seriously injured,” a witness said.              

A big explosion reportedly hit their minibus, rendering the passengers dead.              

African Union troops alongside pro-government forces have pushed some 120 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu to the small village of Lego, as they seek to open up the road from the capital to the key town of Baidoa.           

Somali military official Adan Warsame confirmed civilians had been killed but could give no further details.                     

"There was heavy fighting in the area, and we have reports a bus drove through the war zone, and there were casualties," he told AFP by telephone.              

AU forces alongside government forces are fighting the Shebab to secure control of the key road that links Mogadishu with Baidoa, a strategic town seized from the Shebab by Ethiopian troops in February.