Southern town taken by opposition militia

The regional capital of the Middle Juba Region, Bu'aale, was reportedly captured on Tuesday by forces loyal to the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), sources in Kismayo, 500 km south of Mogadishu, told IRIN. The SRRC is a grouping of southern factions opposed to the Transitional National Government (TNG). Bu'aale, 250 km north of Kismayo, was captured in August by the pro-TNG Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), which controls Kismayo and its environs, from SRRC militia led by General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan.

Husayn Ibrahim Ahmad Ilal, the Bu'aale district commissioner, who is currently in Kismayo, confirmed to IRIN that the town had fallen to the SRRC forces. "We lost radio contact with the town early this morning, and believe that it is in the hands of pro-Morgan forces," he told IRIN on Wednesday. Ilal said there had been no fighting in the town and that the SRRC forces had simply walked in. Other sources told IRIN that the militia claiming to have taken the town were locals. "Those who came in on Monday were Ogadeni militia, and not from outside," said the source on Wednesday. Ogadenis are the dominant clan in Bu'aale. The SRRC and the JVA fought for the control of the port city of Kismayo in late July and early August, until the JVA expelled the Morgan-led SRRC force on 7 August.