Hiiraan Online
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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MOGADISHU (HOL) - Fighting between forces loyal to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and forces loyal to Hizbul Islam erupted in Mahaday city in the Middle Shabele region of Somalia this morning around 3:00AM local time.The fighting comes less than a week after insurgents loyal to Hizbul Islam seized control of the city from Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) forces that support the TFG.
This latest fighting for control of the city is significant in the sense that the interim President Sheik Sharif comes from the region and that recently the African Union Ambassador to Somalia told reporters that the TFG will retake the city of Jowhar which also fell under Al-Shabab forces, another insurgent group, a week ago.
Both Al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam are fighting against the TFG forces and are trying to topple it. They accuse the current TFG as non-Islamic and its leaders as traitors despite the adoption of Islamic Sharia by TFG as the basis for jurisprudence in Somalia.
Reports we have received from the city say that TFG forces were are able to capture an armoured vehicle belonging to insurgent although they later retreated to their bases without gaining control of the city. Reports say that the two sides used heavy weapons as well small arms in the fighting.