Al-Shabaab fighters earlier came in when TFG and the pro-government Raskamboni militias left without a fight. But the allied forces quickly came in after militants left the town.

Mohamud Qalib Ashkir, an official with the Raskamboni militia group told Bar-kulan that they are now in full control of the town.

Reports say Al-Shabaab militants fled the town after briefly occupying it for few hours, paving way for the allied forces to return to the town which lies on the border with Kenya.

Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group, has taken control of Dif town twice, only to withdraw immediately- since forces from the neighbouring Kenya crossed into the country mid-last October.