The withdrawal of United States troops from Somalia has inadvertently ceded control of large portions of southern parts of the country to Al-Shabaab.
A Somali National Army (SNA) official, who chose to remain anonymous, said that the extremists have been gaining control over large parts of southern Somalia.
The US military pulled out its 700 troops from the East African nation on January 15.
United States has repositioned the soldiers withdrawn from Somalia to other neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa region.
Since then, Al-Shabaab has moved in to capture Mashallay, which is near Qoryoley, Lower Shabelle. They captured Mashallay last week.
Apart from that, the Al-Qaeda linked militants have also moved in to capture several villages near Jowhar, the administrative capital of HirShabelle State.
The militia group seized these villages this week on January 21.