A Ugandan soldier serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) looks on from his gun position atop an armoured personnel carrier as members of the Somali National Army (SNA) stand inside a textile and clothing factory in Balad town in Middle Shabelle region approx. 40km north east of the capital Mogadishu during a visit by Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed 01 August, 2012. Balad was until recently, under the control of the Al-Qaeda-affliated terrorist group Al Shabaab until an offensive by the Somali National Army (SNA) supported by the AMISOM forces on 26 June drove out the extremists, liberating the town and its people, and bringing the area under the control of the UN and internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) whose mandate expires on 20 August. AU-UN IST PHOTO / STUART PRICE.