Al Shabaab launches an onslaught and strikes a key Somalia town

Government forces had been using the town in central Somalia as a staging ground for their operations to push back the militants, who have been gaining ground in recent weeks, but al Shabaab fighters stormed it on Wednesday, according to locals.

Residents of the capital are on edge due to rumors that al Shabaab may target the city as a result of the al Qaeda affiliate’s advances, which includes briefly seizing areas within 50 kilometers (30 miles) of Mogadishu last month.

Soldiers told Reuters that although the army has retaken those settlements, al Shabaab has persisted in its advances in the countryside, prompting the government to send police officials and jail guards to assist the military.

Located around 245 kilometers north of Mogadishu, the town that was assaulted on Wednesday, Adan Yabaal, has served as an operating base for raids on al Shabaab.

Last month, local president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud traveled to Adan Yabaal to discuss strengthening the military commanders there.

“After early morning prayers, we heard a deafening explosion, then gunfire,” Fatuma Nur, a mother of four, told Reuters over the phone from Adan Yabaal. “We were attacked by Al Shabaab from two sides. Fighting is still going on, and I’m inside.”

Due to differing reports from al Shabaab and government forces, the battle’s outcome was not immediately apparent.

The militants were driven back by government soldiers, Adan Yabaal military official Captain Hussein Olow told Reuters.

In a statement, Al Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency since 2007 in an attempt to take control and establish its strict version of Islamic Sharia law, said that its fighters had taken control of the town and overrun ten military installations.

Requests for comment were not immediately answered by representatives of the national government.

The conflict coincides with the growing uncertainty around the future of international security assistance to Somalia.

At the beginning of the year, a larger force was replaced by a new African Union peacekeeping operation, but its funding is unclear because the United States is against a plan to switch to a U.N. finance scheme.