Somalia: SW denies curfew in town seized by militants

MERCA, Somalia-South West State administration said, peaceful atmosphere has returned to the town of Merca that was seized by Al Shabaab militants on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports. 

Southwest State Minister for Livestock and Animal Husbandry Moallim Mohamed Adan denied that militants imposed curfew in Merca following a surprise takeover yesterday.  

Al Shabaab militiamen in fighting vehicles wrested control of Merca without resistance as Somalia tries to forge a united national army from former clan militias.  

AMISOM said in statement, its troops were still maintaining military presence outside southern Merca town, a historic town popular with exotic beaches and white buildings. 

“There was only a truck-load of militants. They overpowered nobody here and [militants] returned to their original hideouts,” Adan told Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe.  

He expressed astonishment at the recurrent takeovers by Al Shabaab militants of towns in central and southern Somalia.  

Southwest State is weighing in on deploying permanent police officers in Lower Shabelleregional capital of Merca.  

Security analysts tell GO that militant raid on Lantaburo military base might have prompted for allied forces to vacate Merca.  

Somali government forces and African Union peacekeepers made similar pullouts in the past.

GAROWEONLINE