Somali, Ethiopian forces take over al-Shabaab stronghold

Feb 22, 2012, 18:43 GMT

Mogadishu - Somali government troops and Ethiopian forces on Wednesday took control of the insurgent stronghold of Baidoa in southern Somalia, officials said.

A government official, who requested anonymity, told dpa that government forces took over the city, which has long been considered one of Islamist group al-Shabaab's key towns, without firing a shot.

Insurgent forces pulled out as the opposing army approached, the official said.

Al-Shabaab, which recently announced it was merging with al-Qaeda, is losing ground across Somalia in the face of concerted pressure from the African Union, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somali forces.

The group pulled out of Mogadishu in August. Observers believe it is suffering from infighting and is on the verge of collapse, five years after it started an insurgency to topple the internationally backed government.

However, the insurgents have stepped up a campaign of suicide blasts in the capital to pressure the government.

The news came as the UN Security council voted unanimously to increase the military strength of the African Union mission in Somalia, and authorized it to use force against al-Shabaab.

The decision by the 15-nation council in New York to increase AMISOM's military components to 17,731 troops, from 12,000 troops, came a day before an international conference in London on the future of Somalia after two decades of civil war.