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| Army launches assault in Comoros | Army launches assault in Comoros |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A military operation has begun in the Comoros to end a year-old rebellion on the island of Anjouan, a day after the military was ordered to retake it. | |
| Journalists in the island's main town, Mustamudu, said mortar and machine-gun fire was coming from two ships off the coast thought to be carrying troops. | Journalists in the island's main town, Mustamudu, said mortar and machine-gun fire was coming from two ships off the coast thought to be carrying troops. |
| Anjouan's renegade leader, Mohamed Bacar, is believed to be holding out with several hundred armed police. | Anjouan's renegade leader, Mohamed Bacar, is believed to be holding out with several hundred armed police. |
| The assault force sent to Anjouan includes 1,000 African Union soldiers. | |
| On Monday, President Ahmed Mohamed Sambi said in a televised address that Anjouan would be "liberated" in the "coming hours or days". | |
| Mr Sambi said he had hoped that Mr Bacar and his supporters would "surrender themselves in order to avoid confrontation". | Mr Sambi said he had hoped that Mr Bacar and his supporters would "surrender themselves in order to avoid confrontation". |
| 'Feet on the ground' | |
| Mortar and machine-gun fire was first heard as dawn broke on Tuesday in Anjouan as Comoran army boats and soldiers, supported by Tanzanian and Sudanese AU troops, launched a long-expected amphibious assault on the island. | |
| Journalists on the island said mortar fire appeared to be concentrated close to the airport and that there was no indication that the rebels were returning fire. | |
| Later, Mohamed Bacar Dossar, a presidential official in charge of defence, told the Reuters news agency that government troops had "their feet on the ground". | |
| Ships carrying the Comoran and AU troops had left the nearby island of Moheli early on Monday, while a helicopter dropped leaflets over Anjouan warning citizens that the assault to retake the island would begin in hours. | |
| Mr Bacar has defied African Union and international calls to step down since proclaiming himself president in July 2007 after an election which the federal authorities declared illegal. | Mr Bacar has defied African Union and international calls to step down since proclaiming himself president in July 2007 after an election which the federal authorities declared illegal. |
| A history of political violence has left the tiny Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean desperately poor since independence from France in 1975. | A history of political violence has left the tiny Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean desperately poor since independence from France in 1975. |
| At times, the country has teetered on the brink of disintegration amid tensions between the semi-autonomous islands and the central government. | At times, the country has teetered on the brink of disintegration amid tensions between the semi-autonomous islands and the central government. |
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