Somalia’s al-Shabaab insurgents have imposed Shariah law in the key port of Merka, residents said yesterday, one day after the militants retook their stronghold from African Union (AU) troops who had held it since 2012.
AU troops fled the city — the state capital of Lower Shabelle — as heavily armed al-Shabaab fighters swept in with black Islamist flags on Friday, residents and local authorities said, in one of the most dramatic reverses for the multinational force in its nearly decade-long battle against the militant group.
“The city is quiet and life is normal today, shops are reopening ... but people who worked with the local administration are hiding in fear for their lives,” said one resident, Ibrahim Ahmed, who was reached by telephone from Mogadishu.
“Al-Shabaab fighters are patrolling in the streets and they asked people to avoid engaging in anything that could be a breach of the Shariah,” said another resident, Mohamed Mowlid.
The al-Qaeda-linked group said on its Web site that one of its leaders, Sheikh Mohamed Abu-Abdallah, addressed hundreds of people gathered at the regional government headquarters in Merka on Friday.
“The enemy has lost and running away, they are fleeing from the Islamic regions,” it quoted him as saying.
“The Islamic administration has started functioning officially in Merka and the fight among clans is over, there is no one who is superior to another, people are equal in front of God’s law,” it said.
The governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Ibrahim Adam, told reporters on Friday that “AU troops pulled out of the town and al-Shabaab militants entered — and have secured control without fighting.”
The AU said on Twitter late on Friday that its troops were “still in control” of Merka, but had been forced to “readjust their positions for tactical purposes.”
The statement sharply contradicted reports from residents and local authorities.
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