MOGADISHU, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Fighters of the Islamist Hezbul Islam group in Somalia on Sunday peacefully took over a pirate stronghold in central Somalia, reports from the region said.
Pirate gangs based in Harardheere town have reportedly fled to the outskirts as advancing heavily-armed Islamist militias closed in on the area in the central Somalia region of Mudug.
The town was known to be one of the main bases for pirates that have been wreaking havoc in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden where ships have been seized and taken to the shores of Harardheere.
Residents said that Islamist fighters took up important position in the town as they consolidated their hold of the area where it is thought a British couple were being held hostage by the pirates.
It is not clear if there were any ships anchored in the coast of the town but sources in the area say that the Islamists move into the town has been expected and any ships docked would have been taken out.
There are two other main pirate strongholds in central Somalia, Eyl and Hobyo, still under the rein of the pirate gangs who are known to have several ships and their crew for ransom.
Somalia's Indian Ocean coast has been infested with piracy since the collapse of the Somali government in the early 1990s. The waterway is one of the most important shipping routes in the world.
Several countries including China have sent naval forces to patrol the area and fight the rampant piracy which international maritime organization say have declined recently.
