Source: The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Shabab militant Islamist group withdrew on Saturday morning from Mogadishu, the bullet-ridden capital of Somalia, and the entire city is now under government control for the first time in years.

Witnesses described truckloads of heavily armed Shabab fighters motoring away under the cover of darkness and beleaguered residents almost immediately pouring into the streets to cheer — and jeer — the withdrawing militants.

The Shabab have controlled parts of Mogadishu for years, inflicting a brutal reign in their areas, chopping off the hands of petty thieves and beheading anyone they consider a spy. They have also banned music, television and even bras, calling them all un-Islamic.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/world/africa/07somalia.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto