Somali troops, AU recapture key Shebab-held port: armyFebruary 6, 2016 - 15:16 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers on Saturday, February 6 recaptured the key port of Merka from Shebab insurgents, just one day after the Islamists swept into the city, the army and witnesses said, according to AFP. "The Somali forces and AMISOM peacekeepers secured control of Merka again and now the situation has returned to normal," a Somali military official, Abdirisak Mohamed, told AFP by telephone from Mogadishu. "There was brief exchange of gunfire, but the (Shebab) militants have fled." Shebab insurgents took their former stronghold of Merka on Friday from African Union troops who pulled out of the port they had held for three-and-a-half years. The historic port, some 100 kilometers south of the capital Mogadishu, was captured in August 2012 by African Union troops. It is one of the first major towns the Shebab have seized back and it gives them access to a sea port again. Photo. AP Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |