Since then, African peacekeepers and international donors have redoubled their efforts to defeat al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab claimed the French soldiers left behind combat gear and a wounded comrade before disengaging.
" Al Shabaab has been driven from Mogadishu and every other major city in Somalia, " she said.
In the past year, African Union peacekeepers have driven al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu and its port stronghold of Kismayo.
Despite strong support from foreign allies, the lingering al-Shabaab insurgency still poses a threat to Somalia's new democratic government.
The Somali Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was the conduit between the groups and pushed al Shabaab to strike Western targets outside Somalia.
Mahiga said the next challenge will be to maintain security and stability in Kismayo and other areas newly liberated from Al-Shabaab.
Mrs Tebbutt was reportedly taken at first to a part of southern Somalia largely controlled by the Islamist extremist group al-Shabaab.
Somalia analysts view this threat as real but believe Al-Shabaab will carefully weigh the costs and benefits of any such reprisal.
At least nine members of Al-Shabaab were also killed, the sources said.
But Somali security forces have succeeded in pre-empting many suicide attacks and have arrested some of the Al-Shabaab operatives hiding among the capital's population.
CNN: Holidays in Somalia? Mogadishu hopes to be tourist hotspot
There are fears that the pirates could sell the couple on to Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group in Somalia, if their demands are not met.
BBC: Somalia pirates: kidnapped couple's family urge release
As security minister, he was among key officials who oversaw the incursion of Kenyan forces into neighboring Somalia to battle the terror group, Al-Shabaab.
And in recent weeks, Kenya has accused Al-Shabaab of kidnapping Western tourists and aid workers in northern Kenya, allegations which the Somali group denies.
They also cited the role of African Union troops, from countries including Uganda, Burundi and Kenya, in supporting the Somali government's fight against al-Shabaab.
Somali troops have been fighting a protracted war with the al-Shabaab Islamic militia, which looked poised just a few years ago to take power.
On January 11, 2013, French forces conducted an operation in Somalia in which they attempted to rescue a French citizen being held hostage by al-Shabaab.
"The fall of Kismayo, the last stronghold of the extremist Al-Shabaab insurgents in late September, marked a decisive turning point in the conflict, " he said.
Kenyan troops have launched a cross-border operation against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia with the apparent intention of setting up a buffer zone across the border.
At least 17 al-Shabaab fighters and two French soldiers died in Friday's mission in the village of Bulo-Marer, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Mogadishu.
The council's vice-chairman, Dr Hew Mathewson, said he gave "no credence" to links between the khat trade and the funding of al-Shabaab, the Somali-based cell of al-Qaeda.
U.S. officials involved in Somalia said the weakening of al-Shabaab was achieved through extensive American military training and intelligence cooperation with Mogadishu, as well as economic assistance.
It also claimed that he was a key recruiter of Kenyan Muslims to fight with Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked militant group that is trying to overthrow the Somali government.
"They could easily tear apart Nairobi, but they've done nothing there at all because they realize this is their golden egg, " said Michael Taarnby, an Al-Shabaab expert at the University of Central Florida.
Brigadier Michael Ondoga, of AMISOM, told CNN recently that although Al-Shabaab was "largely defeated" in Mogadishu, there were still issues with its members "melting into the population" and taking advantage of the city's large size to hide.
CNN: Holidays in Somalia? Mogadishu hopes to be tourist hotspot
But the final transitional federal government made "unmistakable" progress, Clinton said, with Somali security forces supported by an African Union mission and troops from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Djibouti driving Al Shabaab from the nation's cities and towns.
However, this may be a sign of waning domestic support in the face of military operations and food shortages, she says, and there is no evidence so far that it will lead to attacks by Al-Shabaab on targets overseas.
Then, on December 21, 2012 -- almost a year after he disappeared -- Hashi turned up in a U.S. criminal court in Brooklyn, New York, charged with "material support" of a terror organization, Al-Shabaab, and allegedly training to be a suicide bomber.
The French defense ministry originally reported one of the two soldiers as missing, but al-Shabaab later posted a photo of his purported corpse to its Twitter feed, saying he had died of wounds suffered during the heated battle that ensued during Friday's operation.
After talks in Cairo last month, some Islamists, including former hardliners, broke with the Shabaab and indicated a willingness to accept the Somali government if there were a mechanism for the phased withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops who have been stationed in Mogadishu since the fall of the Islamic Courts government.
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