20 Aug 2009

Somalia's militant group al-Shabaab has recaptured the southern town of Beled Hawo, in the Gedo region along the border with Kenya.

Witnesses told Press TV on Wednesday that fierce fighting erupted after al-Shabaab fighters re-entered the town from the southern side, overpowering the Ahlu-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa forces which seized the area on Monday.

At least five people, all of them combatants were killed while seven others were injured in the brief fighting, the report said.

The recapture comes hours after the fall of the southwestern town of Luuq, which is approximately 400 kilometers northwest of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, to Ahlu-Sunnah forces.

Heavily armed Ahlu-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa forces entered the town without confrontation from the Hizbul Islam fighters who were controlling the town.

Somali armed groups are engaged in a deadly battle over the control of the southern region.
presstv