Govt. troops retake south Somalia town

Friday, December 30, 2011

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Somali government forces have pushed back al-Shabab fighters in their stronghold of Jubbada Hoose region and captured a key town in southern sector of the country near the border with Kenya, Press TV reports.

Transitional government troops backed by Kenyan forces took control of Howsingow town, which is located 160 kilometers (99 miles) east of the strategically important port city of Kismayo on Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, late on Wednesday without much resistance.

“Last night, our troops along with Kenyan soldiers captured Howsingow after al-Shabab militant vacated the town. No casualties have been reported so far,” a Somali military official told Press on condition of anonymity.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally-displaced people in the world.

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