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Islamists reported to abandon last Somali stronghold

The fighters began to splinter after artillery attacks by Ethiopia-backed government troops and a mutiny within their ranks, witnesses said.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 1, 2007

KISMAYO, Somalia - Islamic fighters abandoned the last major town they held today and were seen heading south toward the Kenyan border while Ethiopia-backed government forces approached slowly because of land mines, residents and the government spokesman said.

The Islamic forces began to disintegrate after a night of artillery attacks at the front line and following a mutiny within its ranks, witnesses said. Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said he had information that Islamic forces were moving south toward the Kenyan border.

"The Islamists have fled Kismayo and our troops are on the way," Dinari said.

Leila Ali, a local radio journalist, confirmed that Islamic forces had left the city and that no fighters were on the streets.

On Sunday in Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, an estimated 3,000 Islamic fighters were preparing for a bloody showdown, but Islamic fighter Rabi Ahmed told the Associated Press that about 50 militiamen in the city were refusing to go to the front and fight.

Islamic leaders had vowed to make a stand against Ethiopia, which has one of the largest armies in Africa, or to begin an Iraq-style guerrilla war.

"My fighters will defeat the Ethiopians forces," Sheik Ahmed Mohamed Islan, the head of the Islamic movement in the Kismayo region, had said by telephone.

In the past 10 days, the Islamic group has been forced from the capital, Mogadishu, and other key towns in the face of attacks led by Ethiopia.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said three al-Qaida suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in east Africa that killed more than 250 people were hiding in Kismayo.

Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian allies have long accused Islamic militias of harboring al-Qaida members.

[Last modified January 1, 2007, 00:25:16]