Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-Al-Shabaab militants have on Saturday withdrawn from the El’La’Helay area, situated near Dhusamareb, the administrative capital of Galmudug State. The militants have vacated bases approximately 50 kilometers east of Dhusamareb.

According to local sources, the militants met with local residents and handed over vehicles that they had previously held captive.

The sources also indicated that the militants’ withdrawal was influenced by a strong pressure of encountering fierce battle from the government’s forces during the second phase of the battle against Al-Shabaab.

The militants’ withdrawal from their bases came at a time when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s arrived in Dhusamareb, where he will be stationed for an undisclosed period to scale up the second phase of the government’s battle against Al-Shabaab militants, who have control over certain areas in the region.rea.