Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) forces in Middle Shabelle carried out security operations in the region, arresting men accused of carrying out banditry in the region later on Thursday officials said.

UIC officials told Shabelle that the security operations were carried out in the district of Adale, Middle Shabelle, to rid the area of bandits.

In the operations The UIC forces are said to have confronted armed robberies between the districts of Rage Elle and Adale in Middle Shabelle at a time when the armed groups were robbing a vehicle that had come from Mogadishu.

Some residents in those areas told Shabelle that the UIC forces and the armed groups exchanged gunfire.

"We are in a location between Raage Ceele and Cadale. We encountered militia groups robbing a civilian vehicle which was from Mogadishu and headed for Ceel Dheer. We exchanged gunfire and one of the passengers in the vehicle was injured.There are reports of death, but am not able to verify" Mo'alin Abdirahman Hassan Hussein who was among the UIC officials in Adale said.

The residents in the township have hailed the arrival of the Islamic courts fighters.

Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government, which lacks the resources to expand its authority outside the capital, has not addressed the Islamists' control of many central and southern regions.