Somali troops recaptures Merka ports from Al Shabaab

Somali government troops backed by African Union peacekeepers on Sunday recaptured the key port of Merka from al-Shabaab insurgents. 

“The Somali forces and AMISOM peacekeepers secured control of Merka again and now the situation has returned to normal,” a Somali military official, Abdirisak Mohamed, told AFP by telephone from Mogadishu. “There was brief exchange of gunfire, but the (Shabaab) militants have fled.”

He said a Somali soldier was part of the casualty but said “several” Shabaab fighters and one Somali soldier were killed in the clashes, and “the security forces are now conducting clearing operations inside town.”