Al-Shabab pulls out of Somali capital: Spokesmen

Mogadishu: Government and rebel spokesmen have said that that Islamist forces are pulling out of the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said on Saturday that al-Shabab was retreating from the city. He called it a "golden victory for the Somali people."

However, al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamed Rage told a local radio station that the retreat was aimed to enable a counter-attack. He says there will be no pull out from other regions of southern Somalia.

The extent of the retreat or what it means was not immediately clear. Residents reported al-Shabab militia leaving their positions overnight. The militia has never abandoned the city entirely.

Somalia is in the grip of famine and has had no functioning government for 20 years.