Abdinasir Mohamed, Editor in-chief

BAIDOA (Sunatimes)-Alshabaab forces in south-western Somalia have taken control of a town which Somali troops had pulled out of after minutes of barrage of bullets, residents said. .

Some local people said they were leaving the town, El-Barde on Ethiopia border, for fear of bombing raids on the rebel forces by Somali troops and possible Ethiopia invasion.

A local reporter in the town says the loss of El-barde to the millitants is a blow to the strategy of recapturing the south-western rebel-infested regions.

It comes just days after Ethiopian troops vacated the town over weekend and handed over Somali government troops.

Residents told Sunatimes that the Alshabaab had moved in late Saturday, arrested some of the elders who opposed them and destroyed part of a government compound in the town.

No comments could be reached from Somali government official on the matter.

Alshabaab militants who profess loyalty to al Qaeda have increasingly resorted to executing those they accuse of spying for Somali government in the last two years alongside more suicide and roadside bombs, tactics copied from Iraq that officials say are aimed at instilling fear.

Source: Sunatimes

Email us: [email protected]