Mogadishu, Somalia - Hundreds of Somalis demonstrated against Islamist fighters Wednesday after they imposed a ban on a popular narcotic leaf in a southwestern town, witnesses said.
The protest is the latest setback for the group, whose leaders the U.S. State Department say have al-Qaida links.
One person was wounded during the protest in Baidoa, the country's former parliamentary seat, after the Islamist al-Shabab fighters fired in the air to disperse protesters, witness Abdirahman Abdullahi said.
The protest began after the hardline al-Shabab militia banned qat, Baidoa resident Hassan Eden said.
Qat leaves produce a mild narcotic buzz when chewed and are a central part of traditional Somali social life. Many Somali women make a living selling the green leaves, and Somali men enjoy chewing them with friends.
Al-Shabab controls large chunks of southern Somalia and imposes a harsh brand of Islam, while battling government troops and African Union peacekeepers.
Al-Shabab has tried to ban qat before with little success. Many Somalis, who traditionally follow a more moderate form of Islam, reject the group's ideology but at the same time welcome any attempt to bring order to their chaotic, war-ravaged country.
This year, rival militias promoting more moderate forms of Islam have won back some territory al-Shabab seized last year.
Al-Shabab's fight against the shaky U.N.-backed government was weakened when parliament appointed a former Islamist fighter as president earlier this year.
January's withdrawal of Ethiopian troops allied to the government, although long a demand of al-Shabab, removed one of its most powerful recruiting tools. It has since refocused its calls for a nationalist and religious war on African Union peacekeepers.
The country has not had a functioning government since clan-based militias overthrew a socialist dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other.