20100124
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Somali Islamist group, Al-shabaab, have recaptured the country's central town of Baledweyne after fighting killed 10 people, according to local residents.
Somalian pirates in Eyl. Photo by Sheekh Aduun
The strategic town of Baledweyne, some 330 kilometers north of the capital Mogadishu in the Hiran region used to be controlled by moderate Islamist who took over the town from Islamists last weeks.

A resident Abdi Ali in Beledweyne told AfricaNews on Friday that a dozen were wounded after Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-shabaab fighters invaded the town and ousted moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.

"At least 10 people were killed and more than 25 others were wounded in fighting ," Ali told AfricaNews on phone.

At least 40,900 civilians have left thier houses in central Somalia, according to the UNHCR.

Beledweyn is a strategic town sharing borders with Ethiopia. It has witnessed a number of deadly clashes between insurgents and Somali government troops.

The fighting in Somalia has killed over 19,000 Somalis since 2007 and 1.5 million people displaced inside the country while another 560,000 civilians have registered as refugees in neighboring countries. Somalia is one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.