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| Somali troops 'retake' key port city of Merca from al-Shabab | Somali troops 'retake' key port city of Merca from al-Shabab |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Somali military, backed by the African Union (AU), has retaken Merca from al-Shabab militants who seized the port city on Friday, residents say. | |
| Civilian casualties were reported after what residents said was light resistance from the militants. | Civilian casualties were reported after what residents said was light resistance from the militants. |
| The AU on Friday denied on Friday it has lost control of Merca, saying it had made a tactical withdrawal. | The AU on Friday denied on Friday it has lost control of Merca, saying it had made a tactical withdrawal. |
| Al-Shabab was forced out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011 but still has a presence in large areas of the south. | Al-Shabab was forced out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011 but still has a presence in large areas of the south. |
| A Somali military official told AFP news agency: "The Somali forces and Amisom [AU] peacekeepers secured control of Merca again and now the situation has returned to normal. | |
| "There was brief exchange of gunfire, but the militants have fled." | |
| He said "several" al-Shabab fighters and one Somali soldier had been killed in the fighting. A resident told AFP that four civilians had died in his area. | |
| The fighting comes three weeks after al-Shabab overran an AU military base outside the southern Somali town of el-Ade, saying they had killed about 100 Kenyans soldiers. |