Somalia: Naval Ships Continue to Shell and Bomb Kismayo

Photo: Stuart Price/UN
AMISOM troops on Mogadishu's front line (file photo).

Kismayo — Witnesses said naval ships fired missiles on the strategic port city of Kismayo, the largest seaport town still held by Al-Shabab militants in southern Somalia.

A resident, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, confirmed to Shabelle Media the naval attacks on Kismayo, about 500 Km (310 miles) south of Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

The situation is reportedly tense for the second day and the local residents began to flee their houses as the allied forces move closer to the town for fear of air, sea and ground attacks that could result heavy civilian casualties.

No casualties were reported so far as Somali and AU forces are trying to wrest control from Al shabab, which announced merger with Al Qaeda early this year.

Al shabab officials were unavailable to reach for comments on the naval shelling and battle for Kimsayo.

  • Comment

Copyright © 2012 Shabelle Media Network. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 130 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.

Comments Post a comment

InFocus

Kenyan Navy Fires on Al Shabaab Stronghold

picture

The nation's maritime force has shelled Somalia's port city of Kismayu as part of a larger Africa Union operation to wrest control of the country from the al Qaeda-affiliated ... Read more »