The Ethiopian army has freed areas in Somalia's capital Mogadishu who were under control of insurgents, said a government statement on Friday.

The statement, released from Ethiopia's Ministry of Information, said the Ethiopian army has launched its offensive against the remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) since Thursday at the request of the Transitional Federal Government ( TFG) of Somalia.

In its offensive, the Ethiopian army has put under control several areas in Mogadishu, including the stadium and Mogadishu tower, it said.

More than 200 UIC fighters were killed and several others wounded during the offensive, the statement said, adding that 13 others surrendered to the Ethiopian army.

It said 13 battlewagons and vehicles full of arms were destroyed by the offensive.

The statement also said one Ethiopian military aircraft was damaged during the offensive.

It said insurgents were affecting the movement of the African Union peacekeeping forces in certain places of the city.

The statement said the Ethiopian army was exerting maximum efforts to resolve the clash between the TFG army and the insurgents through peaceful negotiations with the help of clan leaders.

However, the efforts launched by clan leaders was unsuccessful in stopping the subversive activities by the insurgents, according to the statement.

Source: Xinhua