UPDATES:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=somalia
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NOTE: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760819/posts
Islamic Forces Abandon Somali Stronghold
ABC News ^ | December 31, 2006 | By NASTEEX DAHIR FARAH
Posted on 12/31/2006 9:20:54 PM PST by bd476
Islamic Forces Abandon Somali Stronghold
Islamic Fighters Abandon Somali Stronghold; Last Seen Heading South Toward the Kenyan Border
By NASTEEX DAHIR FARAH
KISMAYO, Somalia Dec 31, 2006 (AP)— 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.
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.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760813/posts
"Somali Clan Elders Urge Islamists to Leave Stronghold"
New York Times ^ | January 1, 2007 | JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Posted on 12/31/2006 8:48:11 PM PST by bd476
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "As fighting began to flare Sunday around Kismayo, in southern Somalia, the final redoubt for the country’s diminished Islamic movement, elders within the city demanded that the Islamists go.
Muhammad Arab, a leader of the Ogaden subclan, said 36 elders of various clans and subclans met over the weekend with Islamist leaders and tried to persuade them that resistance against the huge Ethiopian-backed force heading toward them was futile.
"We told them that they were going to lose," Mr. Arab said, "and that our city would get destroyed."
Kismayo, a scenic harbor town along the Indian Ocean that was once part of the East African spice empire, has been spared the fighting so far.
But the Islamists, Mr. Arab said, did not care. "These guys are bent on war," he said."
Thanks to bd476 for the ping to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760858/posts
"Somali PM: Islamic Stronghold Captured"
ABC News & AP ^ | 1 January 2007 | By NASTEEX DAHIR FARAH
Posted on 01/01/2007 3:09:28 AM PST by bd476