Breaking news fighting inside Kismayo the moment of truth

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Its just happening stay tuned for more development on this.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Kenyan troops enter last Somali rebel bastion of Kismayu

 

Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:02am GMT Print | Single Page [-] Text [+]

NAIROBI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Kenyan troops crossed into the southern Somali port city of Kismayu on Friday, the al Shabaab militant group's last major bastion in the Horn of Africa country, as part of a main offensive to drive out the rebels.

 

"KDF (Kenyan defence forces) troops have landed in Kismayu and very soon Kismayu will be under the control of the KDF," military spokesman Cyrus Oguna said.

 

"So far there has been minimal resistance," Oguna said, adding that the troops had entered Kismayu early on Friday.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Kenyan forces 'capture' Somali rebel bastion

 

Kenyan troops capture port city of Kismayo, last rebel stronghold of al-Shabab fighters, military spokesman says.

Last Modified: 28 Sep 2012 05:59

 

Kenyan troops have captured Somalia's southern port city of Kismayo, the last rebel bastion of al-Shabab fighters, Kenya's military spokesman has said.

 

"[Report that] Kismayo fell today to KDF [Kenyan Defence Forces] and TFG [somali government troops] forces is indeed very true," military spokesman Cyrus Oguna told Kenya's Citizen television.

 

Oguna said that the troops had entered Kismayu early on Friday.

 

Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said Kenyan forces faced "minimum resistance [but] have not yet taken the whole of Kismayo".

 

There have not yet been any reports of casualties in the operation.

 

Friday's move is part of a major offensive by Kenya against al-Shabab fighters.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Kenya says Somali militant stronghold of Kismayo taken

 

The Kenyan military says the last major Islamist militant bastion in southern Somalia has been captured.

 

The port city of Kismayo has been a stronghold of the al-Qaeda aligned group al-Shabab.

 

Kenya's military said it was taken by a combination of the Kenyan Defence Forces and Somali government troops.

 

The Kenyan troops are part of an African Union force trying to wrest control of the country for the newly elected UN-backed president.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Kenya says AU forces storm Somali rebel city of Kismayo

 

The Somali government has had success with the recent surrender of al-Shabab militants

Continue reading the main story

Somalia - Failed State

 

African Union (AU) forces have launched a beach assault and taken control of parts of Kismayo, the last major Islamist militant bastion in southern Somalia, Kenya's military says.

 

The port city has been a stronghold of the al-Qaeda-aligned group al-Shabab.

 

Al-Shabab spokesmen told news agencies that fierce fighting was now under way.

 

The Kenyan troops are part of the AU's Amisom force, which is trying to wrest control of the country for the newly elected UN-backed president.

 

Kenyan military spokesman Cyrus Oguna confirmed to the BBC that parts of Kismayo had been captured and the rest was expected to fall soon.

 

Mr Oguna said the joint operation of Kenyan Defence Forces and Somali government troops had begun at 02:00 local time (23:00 GMT Thursday) and was "basically amphibious".

 

Mr Oguna said: "We cannot give casualty figures at the moment, the damage has not been assessed, but I can tell you our forces are already in Kismayo."

 

He told the BBC: "There are some parts that still will be under the control of al-Shabab because we only got there a couple of hours ago, and Kismayo is a big city."

 

'Lightning and thunder'

Al-Shabab spokesmen said fierce clashes were taking place.

 

Al-Shabab commander in Kismayo, Sheik Mohamed Abu-Fatuma, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "The enemy using military boats have deployed hundreds of soldiers in the coast late last night and the mujahedeen fighters are engaging heavy fighting now with them. God willing they will be defeated."

 

 

Residents of Kismayo told Reuters news agency they could hear fighting outside the city.

 

One resident, Ismail Suglow, told the agency: "Now we hear shelling from the ships and the [militants] are responding with anti-aircraft guns.

 

"We saw seven ships early in the morning and now their firing looks like lightning and thunder. Al-Shabab have gone towards the beach. Many residents have taken their guns. The ships poured many AU troops on the beach," he said.

 

There are also reports that helicopters are attacking the town.

 

Earlier this week, Kenyan military jets had bombed the airport in Kismayo, destroying an armoury and warehouse used by Islamist militants.

 

Some 10,000 people had fled Kismayo in the past week, the United Nations refugee agency estimated, as Amisom, government troops and pro-government militia advanced on the city.

 

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse, in Nairobi, says that last week al-Shabab appeared to be making preparations for an exit, moving out fighters and equipment.

 

He says Kismayo is a significant source of revenue for whoever controls it and its loss would be a serious blow to the Islamists.

 

Kenya began its intervention in Somalia nearly a year ago after a spate of cross-border attacks blamed on al-Shabab.

 

Al-Shabab has been forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, and several other towns over the past year but still controls much of the countryside in south and central Somalia.

 

Since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbours all battling for control.

[oba hiloowlow]

Ilaahay maatada ha badbaadiyo dagaal cir iyo dhul wax fudud maahee

[Somalia]

Kenyan troops have launched an amphibious assault on the port stronghold of Somalia's Islamist al-Shabaab militants, landing forces on Kismayo's beach in a long-heralded attack meant to deal a fatal blow to the rebels.

 

Residents, many of whom were hunkered down in their homes as the battle continued, said the attack came from the air and sea at around 3am local time. Some expressed fears the assault would signal the start of a wider battle for control of the strategic port among rival clan militias.

 

"It was an amphibious assault, delicate and … meticulously planned," Colonel Cyrus Oguna, a spokesman for the Kenyan military, said. "We have so far encountered minimum resistance," he added, saying there had been no casualties among the Kenyan troops or their Somali National Army (SNA) allies. The Kenyan army has also been supported in its campaign by Ras Kamboni, a local militia.

 

Abdi Buule, an elder in Kismayo, said Kenyan and Somali forces had pushed deep into the city.

 

"The people are worried. No one could go outside this morning, even the people could not cook their breakfast. The fighting is now going on," he said by telephone.

 

Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaida, withdrew from Mogadishu in August last year after fierce fighting with the Ugandan and Burundian troops of a 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force – Amisom.

 

Since then, the militants, who include foreign fighters as well as Somalis and who have imposed a strict form of sharia law in the areas they control, have been forced further into the south of the country.

 

Kismayo is their last major stronghold, and a key source of revenue: the militants are heavily dependent on earnings from charcoal exports through the port, and taxes levied on businesses.

 

"We heard roars of heavy guns and aeroplanes flying over us. I fled from home with my two children to the other side of town," Aamina, 34, said by telephone from Kismayo.

 

She said she had seen four bodies on Friday morning, including those of civilians. The elder, Abdi Buule, said around 160 people had been arrested by the Kenyan forces, who feared the militants would try to hide among the population.

 

Oguna said Kenya used most of its naval assets in the operation, and that ground forces, which had been massing for an attack from the other side of Kismayo, were moving in, with some having already entered the city.

 

He said the operation was carried out mostly by Kenyan forces and fighters from the SNA. "The operation is dynamic. We have been there for only a couple of hours. It is too soon to predict how long it will take," he said. A lot of infrastructure had been destroyed, he added, and al-Shabaab fighters had been killed although he could not give a number.

 

Al-Shabaab said heavy fighting was continuing on Friday morning.

 

"Ships have brought Kenyan troops on our Kismayo beach last night. Fierce fighting between us and them is going on now," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab's spokesman for military operations, told Reuters.

 

Kenyan forces crossed the border into Somalia in October last year to pursue the militants officials blamed for a series of kidnappings and cross-border raids. They joined Amisom in June.

 

In the days before the beach-front assault, Kenyan jets attacked al-Shabaab logistic centres in the port, raising fears among aid groups that many civilians might be killed and injured in a final battle for the city.

 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in August that at least three civilians had been killed in shelling by Kenyan navy ships. HRW and the UN called on Kenyan troops to do more to protect Somalis during the military advance. Thousands of residents were reported to be fleeing the city in the past few weeks.

 

The assault came less than a month after activist and professor Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president in Mogadishu, the first leader to be chosen inside Somalia since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

His inauguration raised hopes that Somalia might be entering a new era, although optimism was tempered by a series of deadly suicide bomb attacks in Mogadishu, including one targeting the new president.

 

Analysts have pointed out that even if Kismayo falls, al-Shabaab fighters may melt into the sparsely populated countryside, harassing the Amisom forces and local population with guerrilla-style hit-and-run attacks.

 

Some have also raised concerns about a possible power vacuum opening up. It is unclear who would ultimately control Kismayo, a lucrative source of income that has been fought over by Somali clans in the past.

 

There have been reports of local militias arming themselves, and even of a former warlord travelling to the city from Mogadishu in the past few weeks.

 

Abdi Buule, the elder in Kismayo, echoed these fears.

 

"Every person is thinking what will happen in the next days. Al-Shabaab officials escaped but their fighters are still in the town … People here are very worried over the militias [fighting] alongside with Kenyan forces, who can create new inter-clan rivalry … Kismayo … is a very strategic town and so now every clan militia is getting ready to have its role in the town," he said.

 

The fall of Kismayo will also intensify fears of retaliation within Kenya where security is already very tight. Kenyan youths are known to be fighting with al-Shabaab and there have been a series of grenade attacks on bars and churches in Kenya since the country's troops crossed into Somalia.

[Yunis]

Not yet...

The fighting is at the outskirts - shaabaab are still in full control of the city. good news is not a single civilian has been harm, so far.

[oba hiloowlow]

Ida ‏@idaempress

RT @Mawang_: So after the #KDF triumph in Kismayu, is it safe to say Somali is a Kenyan colony?-i love the sound of that

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[oba hiloowlow]

5h brian kuira ‏@kuirab

Now that #Kismayu has fallen 2 #KDF, common names of shops are likely to be: 'Wakalucy General shop' "Mweiga butchery" "Kamau &Maina garage'

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[Xaaji Xunjuf]

^^ Lol waryaa stop being so dramatic:D

[oba hiloowlow]

Xaaji lool this is from twitter ninyahow Kenyans of all people is saying this wallee ceeb hadii lo dhiman lahaa

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Kenya has a toy army its useless but than again everything is better than Somalia's army when it comes to fighting Alshabaab.

[oba hiloowlow]

lol xaaji kenya is doing a terrible job walahi dekadda bey dhaafi la'yihiin xataa with air support

[General Duke]

So longs as the civilians are not butchered one welcomes Al Shabaab's defeat.

As for Kenya taking over. They can't en take over Eastleigh let alone the Juba's.