Hiiraan Online
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) -- Somalia's president accompanied by ministers have flown to a central Somali town as fighting between government forces and moderate Islamists intensified in neighboring town, killing at least 15 people, officials said on Tuesday.
The visit of Dhusomareb by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud seems unusual at a time Ahlu-Suna group, a moderate Islamist militia is fighting the government troops for the control of the nearby town of Guriel.
Witnesses in the town of Guiriel told HOL those Ahlu-Sunna militias have taken large parts of the town after hours of battle with the
government forces who retreated back into the outskirts.
Analysts say, the town’s seizure would leave the government its efforts in integrating the militia into its fractured army standstill.
Most of the town's residents fled into nearby forests with the two sides pounded each other with heavy weapons in residential areas.
As the Somali leader arrived Dhusomareb, an arid town in Galgadud region, hundreds of residents packed the streets around the town's airstrip, welcoming the president who is trying to bring together political rivals including the warring sides to form an administration for the town.
Ahlu-Sunna militia have seized both Guri-el and Dhusomareb from Al-Shabab four years ago after deadly battles with the feared militant group which is fighting the Somali government and the African Union forces protecting the weak government.