Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Somali forces backed by AMISOM troops have seized the Somali port town of Marka from Al-Shabaab fighters as part of the operation dubbed ‘Free Shabelle’. Marka town, located 90 kilometers south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, has been under the rule of the Al-Shabaab since November 2008.
Local residents in the town say Al-Shabaab fighters fled the town hours before heavily armed government forces and AU troops entered the town. Somali force commander Abdulkarim Yusuf now wants the international aid agencies to stream into the recently liberated towns to issue food and medical aid to the locals who have been affected by recurrent drought and a two decade conflict.
Elsewhere, reports from Kismayo town South of Somalia suggests that hundreds of people are fleeing as allied forces build more troops near the port city of Kismayo for the final onslaught to seize control from Al-Shabaab.
AMISOM troops have been pounding Al Shabaab positions with aerial and naval attacks before the rolling in of troops. However AMISOM troops from Kenya claim to have captured the town of Miido outside the Al-Shabaab-held city of Kismayo in southern Somalia, a claim disputed by the Al-Shabaab that has been on the back foot for several months now after losing several strategic towns to Somali and African Union troops.
Human Rights Watch in a statement however cautioned Kenyan armed forces serving who are now serving under the banner of AMISOM and other parties to the conflict in Somalia to make every effort to minimize civilian harm during military operations. It also added that all forces must avoid deploying near densely populated areas, and strive to remove civilians from the vicinity of their forces.
Somalia has the longest coastline in the African Continent that is more than 3,300 kilometers long, and according to analysts, the capture of Kismayo will boost the Somali government revenue and improve trade between Somalia and the rest of the world.