Somalia's militant group Al-Shabaab has seized control of Dobley, a southern border town located between Somalia and Kenya, witnesses said.
Heavily armed Al-Shabaab militia entered the town without any military resistance from their arch-rivals Hizbul Islam who have vacated it.
Hundreds of terrified residents started fleeing the town early on Saturday, fearing worst may happen as Hizbul Islam militias are reportedly in the outskirts of the town.
Hizbul Islam officials and their fighters are skirted across the border with some officials even reportedly disguised as civilians crossed the border into Kenya.
A top Hizbul Islam named Isse Kamboni was on Wednesday nabbed by Kenyan security forces as he flee Al-Shabaab onslaught in southern Somalia.
The bitter war between the two groups, which are involved in fighting against the fragile UN-backed Somali government in Mogadishu, has escalated into the once peaceful southern regions, where they both have large swathes under their control.
The latest Al-Shabaab advance along the Kenyan border reignite fears of possible military confrontation with security forces along the border.
Al-Shabaab has recently warned that it will carry out attacks inside Kenya, should the East African nation continue with its plans of training dozens of Somali youths to fight for the fragile UN-backed Somali government.
In recent months, hundreds of unemployed youths from Kenya's northeastern province have been enrolled in a military training in which they are promised to receive salaries of about $600.
Kenya, which officially closed its borders with Somalia in late 2006, has amassed several of its security personnel along the porous border to avert any possible infiltration of Somali militants and terrorist elements.
Heavily armed Al-Shabaab militia entered the town without any military resistance from their arch-rivals Hizbul Islam who have vacated it.
Hundreds of terrified residents started fleeing the town early on Saturday, fearing worst may happen as Hizbul Islam militias are reportedly in the outskirts of the town.
Hizbul Islam officials and their fighters are skirted across the border with some officials even reportedly disguised as civilians crossed the border into Kenya.
A top Hizbul Islam named Isse Kamboni was on Wednesday nabbed by Kenyan security forces as he flee Al-Shabaab onslaught in southern Somalia.
The bitter war between the two groups, which are involved in fighting against the fragile UN-backed Somali government in Mogadishu, has escalated into the once peaceful southern regions, where they both have large swathes under their control.
The latest Al-Shabaab advance along the Kenyan border reignite fears of possible military confrontation with security forces along the border.
Al-Shabaab has recently warned that it will carry out attacks inside Kenya, should the East African nation continue with its plans of training dozens of Somali youths to fight for the fragile UN-backed Somali government.
In recent months, hundreds of unemployed youths from Kenya's northeastern province have been enrolled in a military training in which they are promised to receive salaries of about $600.
Kenya, which officially closed its borders with Somalia in late 2006, has amassed several of its security personnel along the porous border to avert any possible infiltration of Somali militants and terrorist elements.
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