Somali Gov't Troops Retake Major Southern Somali Town

Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops have retaken the southern strategic town of Hudur, two days after it fell to insurgent fighters, Hudur mayor and residents said

A joint Somali and Ethiopian troops entered Hudur taking positions inside and outside the town without facing any resistance from rebel forces who withdrew from the town early Saturday, Mohamed Moalin Ahmed, mayor of Hudur told Xinhua by phone.

"When we came back into the town all the rebels had fled back into the jungle around the town, and we did not receive any resistance," Ahmed said.

He said one young deaf boy was "mistakenly shot dead by the soldiers" since he could not hear their order to stop and run away as the troops entered the town. He said the insurgents first came into the town as individuals and "because they are locals we did not suspect their intentions but they regrouped and started attacking positions of the small security forces in the town." Ahmed said the insurgents did not intend to permanently hold the town so did not occupy local administration offices. "They just held meetings with locals and ordered the closure of cinema houses in the town, before they left this morning," he added. Residents of Hudur, the provincial capital of Bakool region, said government soldiers and Ethiopian troops carried out searches for weapons and suspected insurgents in the town and questioned people. Hudur, 180 km northwest of Baidoa, the seat of the transitional parliament, fell into insurgent hands on Thursday.Islamist insurgent fighters have recently been active in southern and central Somali regions out side Mogadishu, where the insurgency against the transitional government and their Ethiopian backers had been centered