A military commander says government forces have taken full control of the western Somali town where the national security minister was killed last month. Muqtar Hussein Afrah says his forces took Belet Weyne Sunday after a brief fight with a group of insurgents. Belet Weyne is a strategic town, serving as the capital of the central Somali region of Hiran and is close to the border with Ethiopia. Since January government forces have controlled the town's eastern part and insurgents in its west. The Associated Press quoted Belet Weyne resident Abshir Haji Damal as saying that when hundreds of heavily armed government soldiers rolled in on pickups Sunday morning, the insurgents abandoned the town.
