Somalia offers Shabaab amnesty
A Somali government soldier mans a position inside Bakara market, a stronghold of al-Shabaab until the insurgents withdrew from Mogadishu at the weekend triggering an offer of amnesty from the Transitional Federal Government.
Somalia’s Islamist rebels al-Shabaab retreated from Mogadishu at the weekend, now the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has offered to grant an amnesty “to insurgent fighters remaining in Mogadishu who give themselves up and renounce violence”.
In a statement emailed to reporters the Prime Minister’s Office also said it would establish a ‘Special Forces’ unit to patrol areas of the city formerly controlled by al-Shabaab until Somalia’s police force can take over.
Fighting has continued since the Shabaab pull-out even as victims of the expanding famine flood into the city.
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