Somalis come onto the street after the government and AU troops drove al-Shabab militants from Bulomarer, in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, Aug. 31, 2014. Joint forces now have captured Bariire, a militant base near Mogadishu.
FILE – Somalis come onto the street after the government and AU troops drove al-Shabab militants from Bulomarer, in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, Aug. 31, 2014. Joint forces now have captured Bariire, a militant base near Mogadishu.
African Union and Somali government forces have captured the town of Bariire, a strategic militant base in the south of the country, officials and witnesses said Saturday.
Commanders said the Islamist al-Shabab group fled following heavy fighting outside the town in which the joint troops approached from three directions.
Bariire was one of al-Shabab’s strongholds in the south and only 45 kilometers (27 miles) from Mogadishu, the country’s capital.
“The joint troops attacked the town from three directions, forced the militants to flee and secured its control,” Abdinasir Alim Ibrahim, a district commissioner in nearby Afgoye, told VOA’s Somali service. “Hopefully, the next target will be Toratorow, and then we will proceed to other towns and cities controlled by the militants.”
Seven civilians were reportedly killed and four injured when a minivan they were traveling in ran over a land mine as they fled the town. But Ibrahim could confirm the deaths of just four civilians and injuries to three others in the incident.
Witnesses told VOA on condition of anonymity that they saw about a dozen military personnel supporting the Somali and AU forces as they moved into the city.