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Persian and Arab traders founded Mogadishu in the 10th century blended with the local population. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries. Ruled in its medieval golden age by the Somali-Arab Muzaffar dynasty, and subsequently an assortment of other local Sultanates and polities, Mogadishu became the capital of Italian Somaliland during the colonial period. After the ousting of the Siad Barre regime and the ensuing civil war, various militias fought for control of the city, later to be replaced by the Islamic Courts Union. The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, notably Al Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Transitional Federal Government and its AMISOM allies. With a change in administration in late 2010, federal control of Mogadishu has steadily expanded. The pace of territorial gains is also expected to greatly accelerate, as more trained government and AMISOM troops enter the city. On the 6th August 2011 it was reported that Al-Shabab had withdrawn from the parts of Mogadishu that it controlled. |