Somali pro-government forces have recovered without a fight Lugh district in Gedo province, bordering with Kenya and Ethiopia, occupied for two years by the radical Islamic group Al Shabab, Al Qada arm in the country. The governor of the Somali transitional government representative in the province of Gedo, Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, who was expelled two years ago by Al Shabab, confirmed that "the tyrannical military has gone, fled before we entered the city." Government troops, along with the militia Sufi (Muslim mystics) of Ahl Sunna wal Jama, who supports him, he added Gesey, "will go to all parts of Somalia where Al Shabab keeps people hostage." Gedo residents complained that al-Shabab militants have left the towns of Garbaharey, Burdhubo and Elwak, districts where they feared more attacks by government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks.
A neighbor of Garbaharey, the provincial capital of Gedo, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Al Shabab has left the area "after being severely beaten at the battle of Bulohawo (population occupied by government troops in recent days) and has been withdrawn to Kismayo (the main southern port that controls two years ago).
" Garbaharey Another resident, who asked to be identified only as Ahmed, said that Al Shabab lost more than 200 militants in the weeklong battle for Bulohawo and "brought here over 150 bodies to bury them." "They have no gas or money and can not continue to fight for what they have left everything," added Ahmed.
As al-Shabab spokesman declined to comment, their website says they have changed tactics in the fight: "Ethiopian forces have captured Bulohawo, Lugh and other cities, so we change our tactics and focus the war against the Ethiopian occupation." Sources have said that Ethiopian forces have occupied the towns of Gedo, but the president of Transitional Government of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, confirmed that it has helped their combatants in the fight against Al Shabab.
"I thank the Government of Ethiopia to support our forces, which have helped us fight the terrorists of al-Shabab," Ahmed said in an appearance before reporters in Mogadishu. Three days ago, Al Shabab moved to Mogadishu to several hundreds of militants trained in the central region of Baidoa to try to resist the offensive launched to recover the capital by government troops, supported the Union Mission AU in Somalia (AMISOM).
Salad Nur Abdi, a former Somali army colonel, said Al Shabab is removed now because he knows he is hated in the areas it has occupied. "Now, Al Shabab is less popular than the Ethiopians, who were regarded as the worst enemies of Somalia, and know that if they defeat the Ethiopians can win the hearts of the people they hated in 2006," Salad said.
In the areas they occupy, Al Shabab set standards and made brutal executions, limb amputations and flogging in public, while preventing the action of humanitarian organizations and agencies and medical help despite the total lack of resources of the population. Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when he ousted the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and started to control its territory tribal warlords, Islamic militants and even groups of armed bandits. 
A neighbor of Garbaharey, the provincial capital of Gedo, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Al Shabab has left the area "after being severely beaten at the battle of Bulohawo (population occupied by government troops in recent days) and has been withdrawn to Kismayo (the main southern port that controls two years ago).
" Garbaharey Another resident, who asked to be identified only as Ahmed, said that Al Shabab lost more than 200 militants in the weeklong battle for Bulohawo and "brought here over 150 bodies to bury them." "They have no gas or money and can not continue to fight for what they have left everything," added Ahmed.
As al-Shabab spokesman declined to comment, their website says they have changed tactics in the fight: "Ethiopian forces have captured Bulohawo, Lugh and other cities, so we change our tactics and focus the war against the Ethiopian occupation." Sources have said that Ethiopian forces have occupied the towns of Gedo, but the president of Transitional Government of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, confirmed that it has helped their combatants in the fight against Al Shabab.
"I thank the Government of Ethiopia to support our forces, which have helped us fight the terrorists of al-Shabab," Ahmed said in an appearance before reporters in Mogadishu. Three days ago, Al Shabab moved to Mogadishu to several hundreds of militants trained in the central region of Baidoa to try to resist the offensive launched to recover the capital by government troops, supported the Union Mission AU in Somalia (AMISOM).
Salad Nur Abdi, a former Somali army colonel, said Al Shabab is removed now because he knows he is hated in the areas it has occupied. "Now, Al Shabab is less popular than the Ethiopians, who were regarded as the worst enemies of Somalia, and know that if they defeat the Ethiopians can win the hearts of the people they hated in 2006," Salad said.
In the areas they occupy, Al Shabab set standards and made brutal executions, limb amputations and flogging in public, while preventing the action of humanitarian organizations and agencies and medical help despite the total lack of resources of the population. Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when he ousted the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and started to control its territory tribal warlords, Islamic militants and even groups of armed bandits.
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