Shabaab women’s leader captured

The retreat of the Al Shabaab Islamist
militant group in Somalia since 2011.
Original map by Evan Centanni.
www.polgeonow.com

KISMAYO (Sh.M.Network)—The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and those of Somalia have have captured Al Shabaab women’s leader in Kismayu port.

Apart from the woman, the troops also arrested 72 suspected militants and recovered an assortment of weapons.

Among those arrested was the woman identified as Marianna Issa Mohammed who was identified by residents of Kismayu as the Al Shabaab women leader.

Her arrest is seen as a boost as the troops race to pacify the city that has been under the rule of the militants for long.

KDF information operations officer Col Cyrus Oguna said the Sunday operation was a success because of the cooperation from the locals.

Col Oguna added the troops also arrested five Al-Shabaab members as they tried to enter Kenya in Kolbio area.

Two KDF soldiers were injured in the exercise after the militants engaged them in a shootout that left three of them killed and two AK 47 rifles and an RPG recovered.

“Economic activities continue to thrive at the Port City with 5 ships carrying foodstuffs and cement docking at the Kismayu Sea Port today,” said Col Oguna in a statement on Tuesday.

He added the UN and WHO representatives visited the area on a fact finding mission and were received warmly by the locals.

The troops took control of Kismayu last month in an operation that has been seen as a success in their efforts to restore order in the war torn country.

The Kenyan troops crossed to Somalia last year in an operation that was aimed at neutralising the militants.

In a related development, police in Wajir intercepted a lorry carrying 400 sacks of sugar from Somalia on Tuesday.

from Shabelle
maalik_eng October 24, 2012

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Kenya navy shells Somali town after rebels announce retreat

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Kenyan warships shelled the southern Somali port of Kismayu overnight after al Qaeda-linked rebels said they had abandoned the city, residents said on Sunday.

Stunned by an assault by sea, air and ground forces late on Friday night, al Shabaab rebels fled the city that had been their key source of revenue, retreating to surrounding forests and towns.

The shells may have been targeting any remaining pockets of resistance or military installations in the city that was the rebels' last stronghold.

"The ships were firing deafening shells to the outskirts last night but several shells landed on houses," said Samira Ismail, a local mother of four.

Al Shabaab said two children were killed and other people injured by the shells, a statement rejected as propaganda by Kenyan military spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna.

Kenyan and Somali troops sent to retake Kismayu from the rebels were still in the town's outskirts, Oguna said, proceeding carefully in case al Shabaab's claim that it had abandoned the city was a ploy to lure them into a trap.

"The troops are consolidating and making plans to expand into the southern part of the city," Oguna told Reuters.

"A lot of caution must be exercised here. We don't want to get into a situation where we start to lose troops here and there."

continued here...

from REUTERS
By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
Sun Sep 30, 2012 12:20pm GMT

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Somalia: KDF Finally Takes Over Kismayu Port

Nairobi — Kenyan Defense Forces have finally taken control of Kismayu port in Somalia following heavy battle with the militants on Friday morning.

Military Spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna said the town was liberated at 2 am with jets and ground forces.

"We have taken control of the town. Our forces are already Kismayu," Oguna said.

Several Al Shabaab militants were killed in the attack but the exact casualty figures are yet to be released. "The damage will be assessed and we will give you all the information available."

KDF is now urging residents of Kismayu to move out of the battle ground to avoid falling casualty.

"Residents are advised to avoid areas where KDF & SNA troops are to avoid collateral damage," a tweet posted by the Kenyan Military said with a blaring message "KDF TROOPS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF KISMAYU!!!"

More details to follow…

from allAfrica/Capital FM
By Bernard Momanyi, 28 September 2012

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Al Shabaab Rebels Pour Back Into Kismayu

Hundreds of Somali al Shabaab militants poured into the southern port city of Kismayu on Wednesday raising fears of a bloody showdown with African Union soliders for control of the rebels' last bastion, residents said.

The al Qaeda-linked insurgents drove convoys of machinegun-mounted pickup trucks into the city and set about building defences, witnesses said.

Somalia is a hotspot in the U.S.-led war on militant Islam and al Shabaab is the most powerful of an array of militias spawned by two decades of conflict - threatening regional stability.

The reinforcements came a day after locals said al Shabaab commanders had pulled out of the city leaving a small number of soldiers to defend the stronghold. Rumours swirled through Kismayu's winding alleyways that one of the militants' top three commanders was now in the city.

"Al Shabaab fighters have filled the bases and camps they abandoned in the past few days," said butcher Farah Roble. "We're terrified. Al Shabaab looks determined to fight for Kismayu," he said.

Earlier this week, Kenyan forces overran several militant outposts to the north and southwest of Kismayu, pushing to within 50 km (30 miles) of Somalia's second biggest city.

Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said the final assault on Kismayu was inevitable.

"We are very, very near Kismayu. It is not a tarmac road that we are walking on. We have to be cautious, the way is littered with explosives. Nevertheless, it will happen. Kismayu will fall," he told Reuters by phone.

Defeat in Kismayu, a hub of al Shabaab operations throughout the group's five-year insurgency, would badly hurt the rebels' morale and weaken their capacity as a fighting force.

from allAfrica
20 September 2012

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