Ahlu Sunnah Regains Dhusamareb Control

[Coeus]

Al-Shabaab Driven Back After Battles




Pro-government militia Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaa is back in control of its stronghold of Dhusamareb following heavy fighting with militant Islamist group al-Shabaab, which has claimed over a dozen lives.

ASWJ officials claimed 20 al-Shabaab fighters were killed, but did not mention their own casualties.

Abullahi Ahmed Samatar, secretary of information of ASWJ, said the pro-government group had pulled out of the town as a tactic before launching a counter-attack and driving the insurgents out. “They massacred innocent people in the city and we are going to avenge civilians; soon you will hear that Ahlu Sunnah attacked their hideouts," he told Somalia Report.

ASWJ, which has proven key in securing regions in central Somalia and helping push back al-Shabaab in the border regions, has come under increasing pressure in recent months. Al-Shabaab now has more resources to throw at ASWJ and other areas following its withdrawal from most of Mogadishu.

[quark]