Somalia’s transitional President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said on Saturday that his troops had defeated the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab, and that his government was in full control of Mogadishu.
Speaking to reporters at his official residence in the Somali capital, shortly after the insurgents’ withdrawal from their strongholds in the city, President Ahmed said the Transitional Federal Government along with the African Union Peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) forces were in full control.
“This is a big day,” he said, adding that with the insurgents gone, the African Union-led forces were in control of Mogadishu.
His address comes barely a day following reports that the militant fighters had fallen back and retreated to the Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions.
But the al-Shabaab group insisted that their withdrawal from the city was a military tactic and that they were preparing to stage a counter attack.
Flanked by the Somali Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the president also urged residents to be wary and vigilant.
He said, “People should not be in a hurry to return to their homes until security forces confirm that the explosives left behind by the insurgents have been cleared out of the way.”
He warned that any government soldier found guilty of looting would face the wrath of the law saying that the military court was ready. The prime minister praised the AMISOM forces for defeating the rebel group from the capital.
However, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud, the spokesman for al-Shabaab, said in a speech broadcast by an insurgent-controlled radio station in Mogadishu that his fighters had pulled out of the capital for what he described as military tactics.
i hope the folks in southern somalia finnaly get peace