AlQa'dah 16, 1433, Oct 2, 2012, SPA -- Allied African troops have taken full control of Kismayo in Somalia, the last stronghold of Islamist rebels who have been fighting against the country's internationally backed government, AP quoted a Kenyan military official as saying Tuesday. Kenya Defense Forces and the Somali National Army are now patrolling the streets of Kismayo, Kenyan military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said through Twitter. He said that the troops had secured the city's central police station and the new airport. He said military aircraft will start landing there. Kenyan troops broke into the southern Somali city of Kismayo early Friday. After years of bloody street-by-street warfare, African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi pushed al-Shabab out of Somalia's capital of Mogadishu in August 2011. The AU troops have since taken over towns outside of Mogadishu as well. Kenyan forces invaded Somalia late last year, and have been moving slowly toward Kismayo. The once-powerful al-Shabab spent years defending its Mogadishu territory, but since being forced out it has chosen to retreat from towns when challenged by African Union forces or Ethiopian troops who moved into western Somalia earlier this year. Allied African troops sent by the African Union are helping Somalia's fragile government to restore order to the failed state that has been in chaos since warlords overthrew a longtime President in 1991. Analysts expect that now that al-Shabab has been forced from all of Somalia's major cities, the group will resort to guerrilla tactics such as suicide attacks and roadside bombs.
