MOGADISHU: Somalia's militant Islamist group al Shabaab seized a town in the south of the country early on Friday after it was abandoned by the military and African Union-mandated (AMISOM) peacekeepers, residents said.
The town of Leego, which lies about 130 km (80 miles) to the northwest of the capital Mogadishu, is in Somalia's lower Shabelle region where al Shabaab last week killed at least 12 peacekeepers in one of the deadliest attacks on AMISOM.
Farah Ahmed, a resident of Leego, told Reuters AMISOM and Somali military forces had pulled out of the town early on Friday.
"That same minute al Shabaab entered to control the town... The town is now calm and al Shabaab fighters are in every part of the town."
It was not immediately clear why the military and AMISOM had withdrawn from Leego.
"The town (Leego) is now under our control," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters by telephone.
Al Shabaab is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed central government and to rule the Horn of Africa country according to its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
The group was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been chased from most of its other strongholds across the country.
But it remains a formidable threat, with its fighters frequently carrying out bombings against both civilian and military targets in Mogadishu and other towns in Somalia.
The militants also conduct regular attacks across the border into neighbouring Kenya, which they want to pressure into withdrawing its contingent from AMISOM.
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Al Shabaab militants seize town in south of Somalia - residents
Al Shabaab militants seize town in south of Somalia - residents
Putin says Russia will achieve its Ukraine aims by force if Kyiv doesn’t want peace
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was in no hurry for peace and if it did not want to resolve their conflict peacefully, Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force.
Putin’s remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.
Zelensky is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to seek a resolution to the war Putin launched nearly four years ago with a full-scale invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbor.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.
Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow’s forces had captured the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s military rejected Russia’s assertions about Huliaipole and Myrnohrad as false statements. The situation in both places remains “difficult” but “defensive operations” by Ukrainian troops are ongoing, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on social media.
The Southern Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Telegram “fierce fighting” continued in Huliaipole. “However, a substantial part of Huliaipole continues to be held by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
Verifying battlefield claims is difficult as access on both sides is restricted, information is tightly controlled and front lines shift quickly, with media relying on satellite and geolocated footage that can be partial or delayed.
Putin’s remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.
Zelensky is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to seek a resolution to the war Putin launched nearly four years ago with a full-scale invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbor.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.
Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow’s forces had captured the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s military rejected Russia’s assertions about Huliaipole and Myrnohrad as false statements. The situation in both places remains “difficult” but “defensive operations” by Ukrainian troops are ongoing, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on social media.
The Southern Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Telegram “fierce fighting” continued in Huliaipole. “However, a substantial part of Huliaipole continues to be held by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
Verifying battlefield claims is difficult as access on both sides is restricted, information is tightly controlled and front lines shift quickly, with media relying on satellite and geolocated footage that can be partial or delayed.
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