Somalia’s “al-Shabaab’’ seizes third town this month after peacekeepers withdraw

Islamist militant group al-Shabaab on Sunday seized control of yet another town in central Somalia.

A militant spokesman and a local official said it is the third city to fall to insurgents this month.

On Sunday, an Ethiopian contingent abandoned the town of Halgan in the Hiran region, allowing the group’s fighters to enter soon after, said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s spokesman on military operations.

A military offensive launched in 2014 by AU forces and the Somali army pushed out of major strategic centres, but the insurgents, who once held sway over much of the Horn of Africa country, still control some settlements and rural areas.

The fall of Halgan was confirmed by Dahir Amin Jesow, a member of parliament from the region, who said residents were being subjected to reprisals at the hands of the insurgents.

“Each day, civilians are being beheaded over suspicion that they are government supporters,” he told journalists. “We do not have a government that is effective enough to protect our civilians.”

The reason for the peacekeepers’ withdrawal was not clear. However officials in Ethiopia were not immediately available for comment.

Reporters say Somalia has been convulsed by instability, conflict and lawlessness since the early 1990s following the toppling of military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Propped up by the AU-mandated force known as AMISOM, Somalia’s military and central government have strengthened their grip on the country, but a relentless campaign of violence by al-Shabaab persists.