Somalia

By Staff Reporter, *Islamists wrest key central Somali town from Sufi militants* - Agence France-Presse - Paris, France/Saturday, October 16, 2010

Mogadishu: Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab Islamists wrested control Friday of a key town in central Somalia from the Sufi sect Ahlu Sunna, officials and residents said.

The town of Dhusamareb is one of Ahlu Sunna's strongholds and the two militant groups have previously fought over it.

"We have taken control of Marergur village and passed into Dhusamareb where our forces are now in control. The enemy fled and the Mujahidin fighters took the city in a matter of minutes without casualties," Sheik Mohamed Ibrahim, a senior Shebab commander, told AFP.

Witnesses said most of the Sufi militants normally in Dhusamareb went to Adado, another town in the region, where they toppled a clan militia that was in control there.

"The Shebab fighters came into the city after brief fighting with the Ahlu Sunna outside the city and the Sufi militants fled the town," said Adan Wardhere, a Dhusamareb resident.

Ahlu Sunna was reportedly sending men from Adado back into Dhusamareb.

The Shebab control large swathes of southern and central Somalia and has wrested control of much of the capital Mogadishu, where it has relentlessly attacked government and African Union forces.

The Ahlu Sunna was founded in 1991 to promote moderate Sufi Islam in Somalia. It renounced a posture of non-violence in early 2009 to take on the radical Shebab and their allies from the Hezb al-Islam movement.

The Ahlu Sunna does not fully recognise Somali President Sherif Sheikh Ahmed's transitional government but it too wants to rid Somalia of the Shebab and its Al-Qaeda-inspired ideology.

Picture: An Al-Shabab Islamic fighter carries a rocket launcher. Photo: AFP.