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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Somali Islamists battle advance | Somali Islamists battle advance |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Somali Islamist militiamen are fighting Ethiopian and Somali government troops advancing towards their last major stronghold in the port of Kismayo. | Somali Islamist militiamen are fighting Ethiopian and Somali government troops advancing towards their last major stronghold in the port of Kismayo. |
| Artillery fire has been reported near the town of Jilib, close to Kismayo. | |
| Ethiopian fighter jets have also been flying low over Kismayo, reports say. Residents have been fleeing the area. | |
| The Islamist militia has vowed to resist the Ethiopian and Somali government troops who forced them out of the capital on Thursday. | The Islamist militia has vowed to resist the Ethiopian and Somali government troops who forced them out of the capital on Thursday. |
| Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has said his forces are "ready to fight the enemy of Allah" and had only left the capital, Mogadishu "to prevent bloodshed". | |
| Some 3,000 Islamist fighters are believed to be in Kismayo, some 300 km (185 miles) south-east of Mogadishu, towards the Kenyan border. | |
| Ethiopian artillery and troops officially entered Somalia, joining fighters loyal to Somalia's interim government, to repel an Islamist assault on the government stronghold of Baidoa. | |
| Border re-enforced | |
| Clashes are being reported in several towns near Jilib. | |
| "Fighting has started," a resident of the town of Bulobaley told Reuters news agency. "Several mortars and rockets have hit the town." | |
| "Most of the mortars and rockets that have hit the town have fallen on deserted houses. I don't know if there are any wounded," the resident, who did not wish to be named, said. | |
| Thousands of civilians in the area around Jilib have been fleeing their homes in anticipation of heavy fighting. | |
| The BBC's Peter Biles says Jilib is a gateway to the south of the country and the Islamist militia are likely to use the town to block any further advance. | |
| He says the Islamists could find themselves trapped between Kismayo and the Kenyan border. | |
| Kenya has re-enforced security along its border in an effort to prevent Islamist militiamen from crossing over. |