MARKA, Somalia Nov 11 (Garowe Online) - Fighters loyal to the Islamist al Shabaab group spearheading an anti-government insurgency in south-central Somalia captured two towns in Lower Shabelle region, Radio Garowe reported Tuesday.

Residents in Qoryoley and Bulo Marer townships reported the arrival of hundreds of al Shabaab gunmen driving armed trucks, with locals saying the fighters poured in from bases in neighboring Bay region.

al Shabaab

Local militias who control extortion checkpoints immediately withdrew from both towns as the al Shabaab convoy advanced, residents said.

Lower Shabelle is a strategic region of farmlands and a number of working airport and port facilities, a major source of revenue for the region's ruler for years.

Yusuf Indha Ade, the Islamic Courts Union defense chief, controlled Lower Shabelle region during the early 2000s from the provincial capital, Marka.

Ethiopian-backed government troops largely dislodged ICU forces from controlling major towns in the country, but Indha Ade's local commanders melted in with the new authority and formed an uneasy relationship.

Earlier this month, Indha Ade publicly addressed Marka residents for the first time in nearly two years and vowed to establish an Islamic court. Full story

Insiders linked his sudden resurgence in Lower Shabelle to the assassination of Nuriye Ali Farah, one of Indha Ade's top lieutenants who claimed to be a government-appointed police chief.

Indha Ade supporters in Marka reportedly killed three al Shabaab members in retaliation for Nuriye's murder, with emerging reports indicating that the al Shabaab takeover of Qoryoley and Bulo Marer towns is part of a wider strategy to uproot Indha Ade's influence from the region.

Source: Garowe Online