African Union and Somali troops captured the key port of Marka from Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents yesterday, the latest in a string of bases to be wrested from the extremists, officials said.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991
“We have taken Marka, we entered alongside the Somali government forces this morning,” said Colonel Ali Houmed, the spokesman for the African Union mission in Somalia.
“There was some fighting, but not so heavy, most of the Shebab had fled.”
The loss of Marka, some 70 kilometres south of the capital Mogadishu, is another major blow for the insurgents, who have been on the back foot for several months.
AU and Somali troops have made significant gains in recent months against the Shebab, although the Islamists remain a major security threat. Ethiopian troops are also battling the militants from the south and west.
The loss of Marka leaves the Shebab with two major ports in southern Somalia – Barawe and the key rebel bastion of Kismayo – although an international naval blockade has already greatly squeezed maritime access there.
The Shebab abandoned their last fixed bases in Mogadishu a year ago, where they have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, claiming a series of suicide attacks and roadside bombs.
The latest defeat for the Shebab comes as candidates for Somalia’s powerful position of parliamentary speaker campaign a day ahead of the expected vote, a key step in setting up a new government for the war-torn nation.
Somalia has not had a stable central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of bloody civil war.
The UN-backed process, which has already selected the majority of a new parliament and will culminate in a vote for president, is the latest bid to end two decades of instability in the Horn of Africa nation.
“We are facilitating the timely implementation of this important political step,” the UN political office for Somalia said yesterday, adding it was hopeful the already-delayed vote would go ahead today as planned.
Secret ballots in Parliament for the posts of speaker and two deputy speakers have been delayed several times.