Somali rebels reinforce Kismayu, fears of showdown grow
Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:35pm GMT
* Al Shabaab on back foot under military pressure
* Kenyan AU troops surround last rebel bastion
* Rebels seen turning increasingly to guerrilla tactics
* AU force urges militants to surrender
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist rebels fell
back on their last bastion on Wednesday, pouring hundreds of fighters into
the port city of Kismayu and raising fears of a bloody showdown with
advancing African Union soldiers, residents said.
Locals said the al Qaeda-linked insurgents drafted in militants from several
outlying regions in southern Somalia. The reinforcements arrived in convoys
of machinegun-mounted pickup trucks and set about building defences,
witnesses said.
Somalia is a hotspot in U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamist militancy and al
Shabaab is the most powerful of Somali militias spawned by two decades of
conflict in an unstable region.
The Al Shabaab reinforcements arrived in Kismayu a day after locals said the
militia's commanders had pulled out, leaving only a small number of fighters
to defend the stronghold.
"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.
Rumours swirled though Kismayu's winding alleyways that one of the
militants' top three commanders was now in the city.
Resident Ismail Sugow said al Shabaab had drafted in fighters from nearby
Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions. A second resident said the
reinforcements came from "other parts of the country".
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 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.
However, it might not deliver the knockout blow sought by Mogadishu and its
regional allies. Western diplomats expect the insurgents to turn
increasingly to guerrilla-style hit-and-run raids and urban bombings.
"JOIN THE JIHAD"
The AU force urged the militants to lay down their arms.
"Already a number of them have contacted us indicating their wish to cease
fighting and we have assured them of their safety if they give themselves up
to our forces," AMISOM Deputy Force Commander General Simon Karanja said in
a statement.
Al Shabaab said Kismayu, about 500 km (311 miles) south of the capital
Mogadishu, was calm. Its radio station, Radio Andalus, was back on air after
broadcasts stopped on Tuesday.
"All offices and businesses are open. We do not fear our enemies. They
cannot just dash into Kismayu because we have strong defences," Sheikh
Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, told
Reuters.
The U.N. refugee agency said about 4,000 civilians had fled Kismayu since
Monday. Residents reported on Wednesday that al Shabaab were trying to stop
locals from fleeing.
"Al Shabaab is taking to the mosques and ordering people to fight. They said
Muslims have a duty to fight," said resident Sugow.
Al Shabaab could be heard test-firing their artillery on the city's
outskirts, Sugow said.
Another resident, Hussein Nur, said the militants, who accuse the government
of serving only Western interests and want to install a strict
interpretation of sharia, Islamic law, were whipping up fear among the local
population.
"Al Shabaab said in the mosques: 'All Muslims should join the jihad as
Kenyan troops will rape your wives and sisters and loot your property'," Nur
said.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia, on its eastern border, in October to help
crush the militants. Kenyans are expected to lead AMISOM forces in an
eventual assault on the port city.
