Somali Islamic forces flee major town

Jan 1, 2007 (KISMAYO) — Islamic fighters abandoned the last major town they held early Monday and were seen heading south toward the Kenyan border while government forces approached slowly because of land mines, residents and the government spokesman said.

Hundreds of gunmen, who apparently deserted from the Islamic movement, began looting the warehouses where the Council of Islamic Courts had stored supplies, including weapons and ammunition. Gangs skirmished in the streets and the city descended into chaos, businessman Sheik Musa Salad said.

“Everything is out of control, everyone has a gun and gangs are looting everything now that the Islamists have left,” he added.

An Associated Press reporter saw hundreds of Islamic fighters, many of them Arabs and South Asians, fleeing in heavily armed trucks toward the Kenyan border, 100 miles to the south.

The Islamic forces have a base near the border on a small peninsula called Ras Kamboni, where there is a pier and traditional oceangoing boats known as dhows.

Ethiopian MiG fighter jets flew low over the ocean looking for boats that might be carrying the escaping Islamic fighters.

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.

But government forces were approaching Kismayo slowly because of land mines, residents north of Kismayo said.

(AP)