Al-Shabab have left Mogadishu (MERGED, ALL TALK GOES HERE)

[AbdiWahab252]

Victory is bitter sweet.


For me its not a victory until we string up Godane from a lamppost, drag Raage behind a TFG technical and torture Mansuur on tape. The AntiShabab forces should consolidate Benadir and support uprisings in Ceelasha and make the sweep towards Marka and Afgoye before stopping and waiting for similar uprisings.

The TFG must watch out for the Shabab 5th Column who have stayed behind to terrorize the masses. The TFG should set up a 1-800-REWARDS program for people to snitch on Shabab sympathizers and reward them for it.

Today, Xamar is FREE OF AL QACIDA !

[XimanJaale]

God bless Farmaajo amiiiin

[union]

[XimanJaale]

God bless Farmaajo amiiiin

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

Talib of Ayatollah Abdiqeybdiid,


Thats why iam not celebrating yet until the leaders of shabaab are massacred. Then on that day, i will celebrate their defeat and call on the people to support peace.

[Somalian_Boqor]

[Coeus]

Al-Shabaab Quits Mogadishu


An African Union tank advances through Mogadishu




Militant Islamist group al-Shabaab has abandoned Mogadishu, with fighters and top leaders streaming out overnight, leaving the capital in the hands of the government for essentially the first time since the insurgency began.

Residents in al-Shabaab-controlled areas say fighters crowded into small cars and left throughout the night after heavy fighting. Stadium Mogadishu, which was the largest base and staging ground for attacks, has been abandoned, as have the areas of Suqa-Holaha, Huriwa, Daynile, Warshada Basta, and parts of Karan. Even the insurgent stronghold of Bakara Market, which has been under pressure from the government for some weeks, has fallen, a government official said.

The African Union peacekeeping mission and government forces are now advancing into those areas, and witnesses say they saw soldiers loyal to the government in Stadium Mogadishu, which has long been a key target.

Insurgent leaders, fighters and preachers had already been leaving Mogadishu (as we reported on Thursday), but the scale and speed of the complete withdrawal has left many stunned.

Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage confirmed his fighters left 11 districts in northern Mogadishu, for what he said were tactical reasons.




“The enemy of Allah, Burundi and Uganda, and those of helping the so-called Somali troops will no longer gain joy from seizing our areas,” he said. “Instead, they will see hit-and-run attacks.”

“Everyone can see that all the unbelievers and mercenaries are joining against Islam and the Somali people," he said on a pro-al-Shabaab radio station.


Senior leaders Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansoor) and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys fled to Bakool region, locals said.



Government takes the credit

Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman told Somalia Report early Saturday morning that the exodus was sparked by a battle the previous evening.

“Last night, al-Shabaab attacked us,” he said. "The government repelled the attack ... there is no al-Shabaab in Mogadishu this morning in Mogadishu, and the government security committee is in an emergency meeting to rapidly restore law and order.”

Patients Daynile Hospital said that more than 40 al-Shabaab wounded were brought in during the night, before the retreat began. Others witnesses say they saw fighters abandon their arms and slip away.

"I saw three al-Shabaab fighters who threw their guns down and change into civilian dress," a Daynile resident known as Casho told Somalia Report.

“This is golden opportunity for Somalis to see for the first time in 20 years that their government is under full control of Mogadishu,” Osman said, “We already have control of Bakara market and have opened military courts."

Residents of Suqa-Holaha were out on the streets to watch the heavily armed fighters leaving.

"All al-Shabaab has disappeared, we are on the streets now, and the people are very glad ... because they were punishers, Abdulkadir Mohamed told Somalia Report.

However, mid-ranking militia leaders told Somalia Report that they would return to the bases in a few days after the tactical retreat.

Major boost

Controlling the capital for the first time will be a major boost for a government that has long been seen as incapable of governing. Following Ethiopia's invasion to oust the Islamic Courts Union in late 2006, al-Shabaab launched its insurgency and the capital was quickly transformed into a battleground divided between the two sides. The government was penned in to a small area of control, protected by the AU peacekeepers. However, this year had seen real progress as government and AU forces chipped away at al-Shabaab positions.

Despite the spin about a tactical retreat, the exodus from Mogadishu will be seen as a sure sign that the dire predictions about the state of al-Shabaab’s finances, morale and fighting capability were in fact true.

Only last week the insurgents promised a massive offensive, saying they had sent up to 2,000 new troops to Mogadishu. They showed early signs of living up to that, carrying out attacks on the AU and government targets before the collapse. The group has been under pressure in Mogadishu and border regions since the start of the year, has been hit by internal divisions and has lost popularity due to its strict interpretation of Islamic law and refusal to allow western aid agencies into drought-hit regions.

Leaving Mogadishu will only further hit the group's finances, as Bakara and other markets have long been a major source of income through taxation on businesses.

However, al-Shabaab still controls much of the rest of southern Somalia, and if its tactics in the border regions are anything to go by, its fighters will launch regular suicide blasts and counter-attacks, and increase the use of IEDs in Mogadishu.

[Somalian_Boqor]

Somali capital "fully liberated" from Shebab rebels



Somalia's capital has been "fully liberated" from Islamist Shebab rebels, the country's president said on Saturday.
"Mogadishu has been fully liberated from the enemy, and the rest of the country will soon be liberated too," Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told reporters.

The Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab insurgents abandoned several key positions in Mogadishu overnight, that were then taken over by government troops.

"We are very happy -- the fruits of bloodshed and the wars that we fought against the rebels are finally attained," Ahmed said.

African Union-backed government troops have been battling Shebab rebels in Mogadishu in an offensive to secure aid delivery routes for victims of the drought threatening some 12 million people in Somalia and other Horn of Africa countries.

"We have two enemies to fight - one of them is the Shebab, while the other is those who try to rob the people," the president said.

"We will not tolerate looting, and anyone found committing such a crime will be brought to justice."

Lawless Somalia is awash with rival militia factions. On Friday, food aid being handed out to famine victims in Mogadishu was looted by gunmen, who killed five people.

Until Saturday morning, government and AU troops controlled just over half of Mogadishu, including the airport and port, while the Shebab controlled the city's north-east.

"The enemy is defeated, they pulled out of Mogadishu -- and we will fight them to eliminate them from the rest of the country," Somalia's prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said.

Shebab fighters are waging a bloody campaign to overthrow the country's Western-backed transitional government, and control large areas of the south and centre of the country.

Major Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the AU's AMISOM force in Somalia, said: "We're getting reports that they have pulled out from all their positions. We are still verifying.

"We're very very cautious because it could be a trap."

[Coeus]

Allahu akbar in ramadan 20 years later Somalia has truly come on the path of freedom

Now the TFG together with the Amisom must strategicly maintain a GRIP on the city. Send MORE amisom soldiers, train more TFG soldiers. Rebuild the city

[Coeus]

"I saw three al-Shabaab fighters who threw their guns down and change into civilian dress," a Daynile resident known as Casho told Somalia Report.

Agents or cowards that left their wahhabi ideloogy*?

They have to be found and killed!!

[RovingMadness]

War goor dhow na soo gaaray ayaa sheegaya in Ciidamada Al-Shabaab ay isaga baxeen degmada Ceelbuur ee Gobolka Galgaduud, iyadoo warar kala duwan ay ka soo baxayaan qaabka Ciidamadaas u faarujiyaan halkaas, xilli xalay guud ahaan ay baneeyeen Magaalada Muqdisho ee Caasimada Soomaaliya.

Sida ay sheegayaan wararka Ciidamo iyo gaadiid fara badan oo kuwa dagaalka ayaa barqanimadii maanta ka huleelay degmada Ceelbuur, waxaana dadka deegaanka ay sheegeen in Ciidamadaas ay magaalada dhanka Koofur kaga baxeen.

Wararka qaar ayaa sheegaya in Ciidamada ka baxay halkaas ay ka soo jeedaan Gobolada Bay iyo Bakool, isla markaana sababaha uga baxeen ay tahay qaab deegaan ahaan, maadaama deegaanka ka soo jeedin.

Ciidamada ayaa Gawaari tiil Saldhiga degmada Ceelbuur horay u sii qaatay, inkastoo dadka deegaanka ay sheegayan in wali Ciidamo aan badneyn ku sugan yihiin degmada.

Afhayeenka Al-Shabaab Cali Dheere ayaa sheegay in is bedelka Muqdisho ku yimid aanu saameyn doonin Gobolada dalka ee ay ka taliyaan, isagoo ugu baaqay Maamulada deegaanada inay howlahooda sii wataan.

Kulan Hogaanka Al-Shabaab maalmihii la soo dhaafay ku dhex marayay degmada Balcad ayaa laga soo saaray qodobo muhiim ah, kaas oo xataa kala aragti duwanaan uu ka dhashay, inkastoo markii dambe isku raaceen in ay ka baxaan Magaalada Muqdisho, deegaanada Gobolada dalkana sidooda ugu sii wadaan maamulka.

Dadka odorasa siyaasada ayaa sheegaya in Al-Shabaab qorsheyneyso inay dib u soo celiso hababkii lagu yaqiinay ee xilligii Itoobiyaanka ay joogeen ee dilalka qorsheysan loo geysanayay saraakiisha, qaraxyada Miino iyo bambaanooyinka lala eegto xarumaha iyo saldhigyada.

http://jowhar.com/news.php?readmore=2240

[Coeus]

If they are escaping even from there, where are they regrouping?

[AbdiWahab252]

Hutuking,

They are about to abandon Ceelasha after Maghriib.

[union]

"I saw three al-Shabaab fighters who threw their guns down and change into civilian dress," a Daynile resident known as Casho told Somalia Report.

Agents or cowards that left their wahhabi ideloogy*?

They have to be found and killed!!

Agents in their coming guerrilla warfare. REPORT THEM AND KILL THEM

[Coeus]

Disgusting creatures al shabab is.