1 October 2012
Last updated at 14:58 GMT
Kenyan troops were among those approaching Kismayo after the withdrawal of the al-Shabab militia
The
first Somali government and African Union troops are reported to have
entered the strategic Somali port of Kismayo, witnesses and officials
say.
They have been battling the al-Shabab militia for control of the city.
On Saturday, the al-Qaeda-aligned militants said they had withdrawn from Kismayo after an AU military assault.
Kenyan and Somali forces had launched a beach assault on the
Islamist group's last major bastion the day before, but had met some
resistance.
Reports as to the size and make-up of the AU contingent have been mixed.
One resident told the BBC Somali Service that a small
infantry unit of 11 Somali soldiers had entered the city from the west
and were patrolling on foot on the main roads of Kismayo, while another
said he had seen both Kenyan and Somali troops entering the city centre
from the airport.
Around 100 troops were seen by a tribal elder in Kismayo
taking over a police station and setting up an outpost on top of a tall
building.
Somali government spokesman in Kismayo Mohamed Faarah Daher
told the BBC that AU and Somali forces had gone in to the city to
establish security for the population, and had also taken up positions
at the airport and sea port.
Kenyan troops are part of an African force trying to wrest
control of Somalia from militants for the new United Nations-backed
president.
After resisting the AU and Somali advance on Friday,
al-Shabab announced it had shut its five-year administration in Kismayo
the next day for strategic reasons.
The BBC's East Africa correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse says
residents had spoken of increasing tension inside the port town amid the
power vacuum that ensued.
A number of influential clan figures have been murdered in the past few days, he says.
Islamist blow
The Kenyan military said that Kenyan, Somali and AU troops
were "currently consolidating the gains in Kismayo and expanding out to
the rest of the city", according to
a message on its official Twitter account.
Kenyan soldiers have "established no-fire zones around
markets, schools, mosques and hospitals," another message read. Kenyan
troops are reported to be present in Kismayo's suburbs but not in the
city centre.
Last week, a Kenya military spokesperson told the BBC that he
feared the withdrawal might be a trap, making the army wary of entering
Kismayo. There have been unconfirmed reports that al-Shabab may have
mined parts of the town.
Correspondents say the loss of Kismayo will be a major blow to the Islamists.
Somalia's second largest port is a significant source of
revenue for whoever controls it and al-Shabab also used the port to
bring in weapons.
African Union troops pushed al-Shabab from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011.
Along with other pro-government forces they have gone on to
take control of most of the major towns previously in the hands of the
militants.
But the al-Qaeda-linked group's fighters are still highly
active in much of the countryside in southern and central Somalia and
have carried out attacks in cities they no longer control.
Since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia
has seen clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbours all
battling for control.
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