The Mercury

Somali success short-lived as rebels strike back

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MOGADISHU: African Union troops and tanks entered the former al-Shabaab stronghold of Kismayu yesterday, but a blast claimed by the al-Qaedalinke­d militants who have fled the Somali port signalled their intention to fight back.

The government said the explosion caused no casualties, but the incident pointed to alShabaab’s capacity to hit back with guerrilla strikes and bombings in both Kismayu and neighbouri­ng Kenya, whose troops led the assault on the town.

Residents and a government spokesman described a loud blast aimed at Somali soldiers patrolling Kismayu’s dusty streets, but the rebels said they had detonated a bomb at a building housing Somali troops, “killing many”.

“The bomb was planted inside a district administra­tion office building,” al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said, warning of more attacks. “This is only an introducti­on to the forthcomin­g explosions.”

The African Union forces entered Kismayu for the first time yesterday after launching an offensive against the port on Friday, forcing the rebels to flee. Hundreds of Somali government troops and allied militia fighters deployed in the city’s winding streets on Monday.

Mohamud Farah, a spokesman for Somali government forces in the southern Juba region, said the militants had thrown a grenade at Somali troops, but there were no casualties.

“A hand grenade was hurled at one of our military cars passing in front of the district headquarte­rs building. No casualties,” he said.

“The grenade missed the car. We have seized one of the three al-Shabaab suspects who were behind the grenade attack.”

Although the successes against al-Shabaab are welcomed by Somalia’s government and its internatio­nal backers, there are fears that even Kismayu’s capture may not deliver a knock-out blow to the combat-hardened rebels.

The Islamist militant group, which merged with al-Qaeda in February, has carried out a campaign of suicide bombings since it withdrew from the capital last year under military pressure.

Suspected al-Shabaab militants threw a hand grenade at a Kenyan police post in the northern town of Garissa, close to the border with Somalia, on Monday, police said, a day after two police officers were shot dead in the town.

Kenyan authoritie­s blame the rebels for a series of attacks in the east African country since it sent its troops into Somalia last October. – Reuters

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