TIYEGLOW, Somalia – Somali federal government troops, along with South-West state soldiers took control Tuesday of a town in southern Somalia after Al Shabaab militants abandoned it, residents and military sources said.
The joint combat forces rolled into Tiyeglow, a strategic district in Bakool region near the Ethiopian border, without encountering a resistance from the retreating Al Shabaab fighters.
“The troops peacefully entered the city after the Islamist militants pulled out without a fight or firing a single shot,” a local resident, said by phone from Tiyeglow.
The squeezing forces made stopover in El Garas on Sunday before moving into Tiyeglow, and taking complete control of the town, according to the resident.
Al Shabaab militants are reported to have fled in advance of onslaught.
Last month, Al-Shabaab militants regained several major towns, including Tiyeglow and several villages in south and central Somalia after Ethiopian troops withdrawal.
Al Shabaab had steadily lost ground over the past five years, first losing control of Mogadishu, in 2011 and subsequently being pushed out of major cities and towns in south and central Somalia.
