Somali security forces have stormed a camp of a Sufi militia forcing their leaders to surrender after fighting in which 12 people were killed, officials and witnesses said on Saturday.
Fighting broke out between the army and the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa (ASWJ) militia on Thursday night in Dhumasareb, the capital of the semi-autonomous Galmudug region, and intensified on Friday.
“The Somali forces took full control of the base of the rival militias and the situation is normal now, the leaders of the Sufi militias have surrendered to the force commanders,” Abdullahi Ahmed, a Somali army commander told AFP by phone.
According to witnesses, most of the Sufi fighters surrendered during heavy fighting in the evening before the Somali security forces managed to make their way into their main base late in the morning.
The leader of the Sufi group Sheikh Mohamed Shakir who was leading the fight against the Somali security forces briefed the press after surrendering to the government forces.