Al-Shabab take again key Somalia port city of Merca

Islamist militant group al-Shabab has taken control of the port city Merca, residents say.

Merca, some 70km (45 miles) south-west of Mogadishu, is now the biggest town under al-Shabab control.
African Union forces who had held the port city for three-and-a-half years withdrew earlier on Friday morning.The loss is one of the biggest setbacks for the African Union force in its decade-long battle against al-Shabab, analysts say.

The governor of Somalia's Lower Shabelle region Ibrahim Adam speak to the AFP news agency that al-Shabab secured control without fighting."Amisom forces moved out at midday and the local administration and all other Somali security forces left a few minutes later - and then heavily armed al-Shabab militants entered the town," local resident Ibrahim Mumin told AFP."They have been addressing residents at the district headquarters," he added.Another resident, Mohamed Sabriye, told AP news agency that al-Shabab fighters had hoisted their flag over the city's police station and administrative headquarters.
The withdrawal from Merca comes three weeks after al-Shabab overran an African Union military base outside the southern Somali town of el-Ade, saying they had killed about 100 Kenyans soldiers.
Kenya has not said how many of its troops died.Al-Shabab was ousted from the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011, but still has a presence in large areas of southern Somalia and often stages attacks across the country.