MOGADISHU — Heavily armed Islamist militants from Somalia?s Hezb Al-Islam group Sunday seized the port town and pirate hub of Harardhere without a fight, residents said.

The militants had been advancing on Harardhere, 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, over the past few weeks and finally took the town as the pirates fled.

"The pirates emptied the town this morning after getting the information that Islamist fighters were about to enter town. I saw heavily armed militants enter the town on around 10 armed vehicles," Abdulkadir Hasan, an elder in Harardhere told AFP by phone.

"There was not fighting because the Islamists did not encounter any resistance," he said.

Ahmed Hasan Tubey, another witness, said the Islamists chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).

"They entered the town chanting Allahu Akbar, and took control of the police station and other positions," Tubey said.

Source: AFP,Sunday, May 02, 2010