Mogadishu, September 29: Somali government forces recaptured a key western town on the border with Ethiopia during a brief battle Monday with insurgents that left one dead, officials and witnesses said.
Government forces fought with militias from the Hezb al-Islam group and Shebab in the town of Beledweyn, residents said.
Several witnesses said at least one person was killed and five others wounded in the morning clash. It was not immediately clear if the victims were civilians or combatants.
“This morning the government forces entered the town from the west and repelled the Islamists. They quickly took control of the police station and the region’s headquarters,” said Osman Mohamed, a local trader.
“They look in full control of the town and are patrolling the streets.”
There were no reports of any military involvement by neighbouring Ethiopia, which has been accused of carrying out incursions into Somalia to support government forces.
A month earlier, a powerful local commander and clan leader who had been supporting the government in the region withdrew his support in protest at Ethiopia’s alleged interference.
Sheikh Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma’ow since threw his weight behind Hezb al-Islam, fighting against government forces.
On May 7, Hezb al-Islam and the Shebab launched a broad military operation in Mogadishu and areas of southern and western Somalia aimed at toppling internationally backed Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, an Islamic cleric.
The Shebab has been taking extreme stances since it broke away from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), who ruled much of Somalia with relative peace and prosperity until the Ethiopian invasion late 2006.
After the Ethiopian troops ousted the ICU, Somalia plunged into unprecedented chaos, where warlords and pirates have returned to the scene.
The US-backed Ethiopian troops in Somalia had resorted to throat-slitting executions and gruesome methods that include rape and torture.
As a result, the Shebab has become increasingly radicalised and has spearheaded an insurgency against the Somali government, whose president today is a former ICU leader.
Despite the Ethiopian withdrawal, it is unlikely that Somalis would soon be returning to the period of calm and security enjoyed under ICU rule.
The US and its allies in the region, who were not happy with the then relatively popular and stable ICU, will likely to face a non-negotiating force when dealing with the Shebab.
—Agencies