Al-Shabaab kills five people in Tiyeglow town after Ethiopian pull out

At least five people have been killed by Al-Shabaab fighters in southern Somalia barely a week after the troops of Somalia’s neighboring country Ethiopia withdrew from parts of Bakool region.

According residents, the fighters brutally killed five people including a well known trader in Tiyeeglow, a town in southern Somalia .

The group is said to have beheaded one of the five whom they accused of supporting the Somali government and also being spies for the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom) forces.

Late this week, Al-Shabaab confirmed full control of the town after Amisom forces and government troops left.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, confirmed the take over the town.

Ethiopia withdrew troops from Tiyeglow town where they had been battling the group for years.

It blames a lack of international support for the move, following the EU’s recent cut in its funding for foreign troops in Somalia. However Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda said last week the forces who withdrew were not under Amisom command.

Ethiopian troops in Amisom and government soldiers have fought al Shabaab many times this year over control of the Tiyeeglow district. When troops secured it, al Shabaab has strived to isolate it.