The Comoros government captured the capital of the rebel-held island of Anjouan on Tuesday, just hours after an African Union-backed military operation got under way to oust a renegade colonel who took power in May, a defense official said.

Explosions and gunfire started ringing out before dawn as hundreds of troops moved in as part of a long-threatened invasion. There was no immediate word on casualties.

"We have now taken the Anjouan capital," Defense Chief of Staff Mohamed Dosara said by telephone from the main island of Grand Comore. "We have met a small amount of resistance."

Anjouan island's seaport was under the control of AU troops, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

The Comoros, an archipelago of three main islands Each of the three main islands of Comoros has a regional president under the country抯 main leader, President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, who is based in Moroni on Grand Comore.

(SD-Agencies)