Faltering al-Shabab Surrenders Strategic Somali City
Al-Qaida linked rebels have surrendered Somalia's third largest city, Baidoa, without a fight, fleeing in the face of a joint offensive by pro-government forces and Ethiopian troops.
Al-Shabab rebel militias pulled out of Baidoa as truckloads of pro-government troops and Ethiopian tanks rolled in.
The deputy prime minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, Mohamed Mahmud Ibrahim, said the al-Qaida linked militants offered surprisingly little resistance as they fled a city they won in hard fighting three years ago. The minister spoke by phone with VOA's Somali service.
He said al-Shabab forces withdrew without a fight, and government forces are in full control of Baidoa. (...)
