Non-Subscriber ExtractSomali government retakes strategic town |
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30 September 2009
A man lies dead in the street during fighting between the insurgents and government soldiers in Karan district of Mogadishu, Somalia, on 27 September. (PA)
The town of Beledweyne is in the Hiiraan region of central Somalia, close to the border with Ethiopia. It guards the main road between Ethiopia and Mogadishu and is key to securing easy movement between central and southern Somalia. Control of Beledweyne has switched hands a number of times in the past 12 months, between first government and then Shabab forces. A small Ethiopian armoured contingent briefly occupied the town in August, according to local residents, before withdrawing and allowing control to revert to the Shabab.