Somali: al-Shabaab rebels defeated

2011-08-06 13:39

Mogadishu - Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said on Saturday his military had defeated Islamist rebels battling to overthrow his government after al-Shabaab began pulling its fighters out of the capital Mogadishu.

"The Somali government welcomes the success attained by the Somali government forces backed by Amison [peacekeepers] who defeated the enemy of al-Shabaab," Ahmed told a media conference at his residence.

While Ahmed claimed to have quashed al Shabaab's four-year insurgency, the militants said their retreat was tactical and that they were holding their positions elsewhere in the anarchic country.

- Reuters