... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
-controlled port city ofKismayo, hours after the bully boyz put on show the bodies of four soldiers, two Kenyans and two Somali soldiers killed in combat in their stronghold, residents said.
Witnesses said the warships at the coast of Kismayo started shelling the port, around 6:00 pm local time.Militants blamed Kenyan forces for the attack.
Getting information -- especially in Kismayo, the last remaining Al-Shabaab stronghold -- has been difficult for journalists.
Kenya Defense Force ships routinely patrol the area, but this is the first time that they have engaged in combat in Kismayo.
The causalities could not be immediately verified whether there are deaths or injures following the sea attacks on Kismayo town, 500 Km south of Mogadishu.
Kenyan's Army and air force spokesmen could not be immediately reached for comment.
For the past couple of months, Kismayo has come under fire targeting Al-Shabaab from air and sea. But Somali government troops and African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
forces have yet to launch a full-scale assault on the city to free it from Al-Shabaab control, as it has done with other strategic areas in south and central Somalia.