Somali army takes control of strategic city, regional leader resigns

Somalia's national army took control of the biggest city in South West state on Monday, prompting the regional leader to resign two weeks after his administration said it was severing ties with the federal government.



The strategic city of Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state, is home to international peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies in an area affected by drought, conflict and displacement.



"Federal forces have taken over Baidoa, ... it is now calm ... but it looks like a ghost town," local elder Adan Hussein told Reuters.



A shopkeeper in Baidoa, Hussein Abdullahi, said federal troops were in control of his part of the city, which is about 245 km (150 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu.