KISMAYO, Somalia Mar 16 (Garowe Online) - Former fighters for the ousted Islamic Courts movement have secretly slipped back into major population centers in the Jubba regions of southern Somalia, officials and residents said.
Lower Jubba regional officials and military commanders convened in the provincial capital Kismayo on Friday to discuss relevant issues, including appropriate ways of dealing with the returning Islamist fighters.
Ilyas Badal Gabose, Lower Jubba governor, told Garowe Online after the meeting that the officials decided not to do anything about the returning fighters.
Governor Gabose said Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf previously extended amnesty to Islamist fighters and that his regional government would follow that policy.
“We will welcome Islamic Courts fighters if they want to join Somali [federal] troops,†Governor Gabose said.
The Islamic Courts movement ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia, including the port city of Kismayo, until December when Ethiopia-backed Somali troops dislodged them from power.
Since then, the Islamists fled into the jungle areas of Lower Jubba region, and were targeted by U.S. air strikes in January.
News that Islamist fighters have returned to Kismayo comes a week after Ethiopian troops pulled out of the region, transferring security to Somali forces. [ Full story]
