Weapons stolen from Somali president's second home

[Hiiraan boy]

BAIDOA, Somalia May 24 (Garowe Online) - Soldiers protecting the transitional Somali president's headquarters in the southwestern town of Baidoa stole an assortment of weapons Wednesday night from the compound, local police officials said.

The stolen weapons included nearly 70 AK-47s, BKM and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, according to security sources.

There were reports that the members of the security forces who stole the weapons took them to neighboring Bakool region, west of Baidoa.

In 2006, the Somali transitional government was headquartered in Baidoa, since the traditional capital Mogadishu, 250km away, remained in the hands of warlords and, in later months, the Islamic Courts movement.

The country's transitional federal parliament is still headquartered in Baidoa, but President Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and Cabinet ministers have since officially relocated to Mogadishu, after the Ethiopian army helped the government oust Islamist leaders from the capital in January.

Security officials said they were investigating the crime at Baidoa's presidential palace, which serves as President Yusuf's second home.

Yesterday, Baidoa police imposed a week-long nighttime curfew on the city, following a spate of nighttime attacks and robberies by armed thugs and increasing complaints from trouble-weary residents.