Islamists led by the Union of Islamic Courts and its more  radical youth wing, Al-Shabaab, have gained substantial territorial control in south and central Somalia in the past 24 hours.

Districts in Middle Shabelle, Bay and Middle Juba regions have fallen to the religious men after pro-government officials abandoned their stations.

Bu'ale, Qansax Dhere and Ufurow districts in the Bay and Middle Juba regions are the latest to come under the control of the Islamist militias. Even Daynunay, a village 27 kilometres northeast of Baidoa, the seat of the Transitional Federal Parliament, is now controlled by Al-Shabaab, according to statement made by Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur, the movement’s spokesman.

No reports of serious casualties were madeas the militias, led by the clergymen, walked over the areas previously controlled by authorities approved by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

As a result, some supposed TFG strongholds like Beled-weyne, the regional capital of the Hiran region, and the Jowhar, just 90 kilometres north of Mogadishu, are neither under the rebels’ nor TFG control.

For many people, this has come as a surprise since  few expected  the Islamists to regroup and gain ground so fast.

Their defeat by the TFG forces, with the help of Ethiopian troops, over a year ago seemed so decisive that no one expected the Islamists to recover in just about a year.

Addressing audiences in Jowhar in Middle Shabelle and Qansax Dhere in the Bay region, the religious group said they had not come to impose their will, but at the invitation of the people.

“These indoctrinated religious rebels are repeating the same story old story,” remarked a resident of Jowhar, “that they were invited to the villages, districts and regions — the same thing they said nearly two years ago while extending their rule across southern and central regions of Somalia.”

Ufurow town, 300 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, was the fifth location captured by the Islamists within the past 24 hours.

“This loss of territorial control is a very serious setback for the government,” remarked a local authority official in the city who sought anonymity.

Interestingly, neither the TFG officials nor the Ethiopian army has issued any statement to clarify the new development.

Meanwhile, the chief magistrate of Yakshid district, Sheikh Mohamud Mohamed Hashi, survived an attack last night when unknown people hurled grenades at his house in Mogadishu.

Source:daily Nation