Al-Shabab, the Somali armed group suspected by US intelligence of having ties to al-Qaeda, has lost control of the town of Dobley, near the Kenyan border, to forces loyal to the Somali transitional government.

The fighters are all but gone now, but the fight to take control of Dobley has killed hundreds of people and destroyed much of its infrastructure.

Consequently, humanitarian aid groups are still reluctant to return to the region. As Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports, residents caught in one of the worst droughts to hit the region have been left with little choice but to cross the border into neighbouring Kenya.