African Union troops and Somali forces seized the formerly Islamist-held town of Jowhar Sunday, wresting control of one of the largest remaining towns held by the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab, officials said.
“We took control this morning and are now establishing security in Jowhar,” Colonel Ali Houmed, a spokesman for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said.
“AMISOM troops alongside Somali National Forces entered the town, there was little fighting as the Al-Shabaab largely fled ahead of us.”
Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab confirmed to media that the extremist forces had pulled out of the town, which lies some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north on a key road from the capital Mogadishu.
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