A Ugandan soldier serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) occupies a machine-gun post along the frontline of a defensive box position straddling the main road on the northern edge of Maslah Town 29 April 2012, north-west of the Somali capital Mogadishu. AMISOM troops, now numbering 11,400 out of a mandated total of 17,731, supporting forces of the Transitional Federal Government have driven the Al-Qaeda-linked extremist group Al Shabaab out of the Somali capital where life is returning to the seaside city after years of conflict and Somalis are enjoying the longest period of relative peace not experienced since 1991. AU-UN IST PHOTO /STUART PRICE.