**Somali insurgents have taken control of one of the main pirate havens in the south of the country.**Residents said several hundred rebels of the group Hizbul Islam had taken over the coastal town of Haradhere and that the pirates had fled.
Hizbul Islam wants to establish Sharia law and order and put an end to the pirate trade in the town, the leader of the insurgents told the BBC.
Somalia has not had an effective government for nearly 20 years.
“Around 200 heavily armed militants… moved into the town early this morning and took up strategic positions, such as the police station and some former government premises,” Haradhere resident Aden Jim’ale said.
“We are in Haradhere now, we came here after we received a request from the local people to help them provide their security,” Hizbul Islam chief of operations Mohamed Abdi Aros told the BBC.
Hizbul Islam’s move into Haradhere raises the spectre of an insurgent attempt to close down the piracy trade, says the BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu.
One report citing an unnamed pirate said that a Hizbul Islam delegation had visited the town several days ago and demanded a share of the piracy trade. There is no confirmation.
In recent years, pirates have seized dozens of ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
They have recently expanded the reach of their attacks to avoid patrols by several nations off the Somali coast.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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