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Somalia al-Shabab militant base of Baidoa captured | Somalia al-Shabab militant base of Baidoa captured |
(40 minutes later) | |
Ethiopian and Somali troops have taken a strategic stronghold of Islamist militants in south-western Somalia. | |
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that about 50 vehicles, including some 20 tanks, had entered Baidoa, which was not defended. | |
The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in the capital, Mogadishu, says Baidoa was the most important al-Shabab base after the southern port of Kismayo. | |
Al-Shabab, which has recently joined al-Qaeda, confirmed that it had withdrawn its forces. | Al-Shabab, which has recently joined al-Qaeda, confirmed that it had withdrawn its forces. |
It said that it would start a guerrilla war in response. | It said that it would start a guerrilla war in response. |
Correspondents say the timing of the Ethiopian offensive is significant as the UK is holding a conference on Somalia on Thursday. | |
It also comes as diplomats say the UN Security Council is to vote to increase the African Union force in Somalia to 17,731 soldiers from its current level of 12,000. | |
Witnesses say that after fierce fighting on Tuesday, al-Shabab fighters left Baidoa, which was taken without a battle. | |
BBC Somali service analyst Abdullahi Sheikh says Baidoa is a big loss to al-Shabab, as the main road linking Mogadishu to the south-west and parts of Kenya and Ethiopia passes through the city. | |
It is also the business route for most commodities that are transported from Mogadishu to other towns in the region. | |
Al-Shabab still controls many southern and central areas of the country but is also under pressure from Kenyan forces in the south. | |
Last year, AU troops in support of the UN-backed government pushed al-Shabab out of the capital. | |
However, the militants continue to stage suicide attacks in the city. |