Mogadishu (Alshahid)-Alshabab militants in Somalia celebrated on Tuesday the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi as a historic day and said Ethiopia, which has troops inside Somalia, would now break into ethnic regions.

“The death of Meles was uplifting news for Somalis, we wish Allah will punish him for what he did to our people,” The group’s spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told the militant-run Radio Andalus.

The station dedicated a special programme Tuesday to the death of Meles, where supporters sent in messages welcoming the news.

Alshabab encountered Ethiopian troops twice under Meles’ tenure, once in 2006-2009 and again from Dec. 2011 to date.

Zanawi’s death was announced by government officials on Tuesday, a day after Somalia swore in its new parliament in an historic ceremony, the latest effort to end two decades of conflict.