Somalia's militant Islamist group al Shabaab has retaken a small town in the centre of the country after it was abandoned by government troops, residents said on Saturday. Fighting broke out in the town of Muqokori, about 300 kilometres north of the capital Mogadishu, late on Friday, almost a month after government troops ousted the insurgents.
"Al Shabaab attacked from various sides. After one hour of fighting, the government forces left and al Shabaab seized control," Hussein Nur, a local elder, told Reuters by phone. The militant group claimed that 47 government soldiers had died in the fighting. "We have their dead bodies," said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, adding they had captured four vehicles and dozens of weapons.