Somali govt forces seize town from al-Shabaab rebels
Kenyan security forces search on near Liboi, a border town with Somalia where it is believed two Spanish aid workers kidnapped on October 14 from Dadaab refugee camp in the company of five men of Somali appearance.
MOGADISHU,
Somali government troops and allied militia have wrested control of an Islamist Al Shabaab stronghold which borders Kenya after reported bombing by military aircraft on Saturday, officials and witnesses said.
Troops from the Western-backed government, as well as gunmen from the pro-government Ras Kamboni militia, took control of the southern Somali town of Qoqani in the Lower Juba region, which borders Kenya.
"The government forces took control of Qoqani after heavy shelling on the positions of the Shabaab and their affiliates," said Abdurrahman Mohamed, a government security official.
"The enemy is lost and we will continue pursuing them," he added.
The official did not specify the form of the shelling, but witnesses said there had been aerial bombardment in Qoqani late Saturday before Shabaab troops pulled out of the town.
"Several aircraft dropped bombs on the jungle area of Qoqani causing heavy explosions, and the Shabaab withdrew from the town without face-to-face fighting," said Sugule Ali, an elder in a nearby village.
The US military has carried out a number of attacks in recent years against Al-Qaeda militants believed to be hiding in Somalia, including using unmanned drones.
Neighbouring Kenya on Saturday vowed to pursue across the Somali border armed kidnappers responsible for a spate of abductions of foreigners, that Nairobi blames on the Al-Qaeda inspired Shabaab.
Kenyan military aircraft and helicopters were reported along the frontier with Somalia late Saturday as forces searched for two Spanish aid workers abducted from the Dadaab refugee camp on Thursday.
"The shelling was very heavy and we could hear the planes flying over the jungle as big bombs were dropped," Nuradin Haji Hassan, another witness said.
"We don't know which country these planes belonged but they have carried out several rounds of aerial bombardment in the Qoqani area," he added.
Somalia has had no effective government ever since it plunged into repeated rounds of civil wars beginning in 1991, allowing a flourishing of militia armies, extremist rebels and piracy.
African Union and Somali government forces are battling die-hard Shebab fighters in the Somali capital still held after the bulk of rebels pulled out in August.
The Shebab however have said they have shifted to guerrilla tactics, and recent bomb attacks have demonstrated they are still able to wreak havoc deep inside the city. They still control large areas of south and central Somalia. (AFP)
