Almotamar.net Google news - Somali Government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have taken control of the last major Islamic militant stronghold in the country, it was claimed today.
Well-armed troops drove into the southern coastal city of Kismayo after clearing roads laced with land mines that had been left by Islamic fighters fleeing a 13-day military onslaught by Government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and MiG fighter jets.
"We have entered and captured the city," Major General Ahmed Musa told The Associated Press while riding aboard a truck into Kismayo, where an estimated 3,000 hard-line Islamic fighters had vowed to make a last stand, but eventually melted away under artillery fire.
Islamic forces have promised to wage an Iraq-style Guerrilla war if defeated.
Ali Mohamed Gedi, the Somali Prime Minister, offered an amnesty to the hundreds of Islamic fighters fleeing south toward the Kenyan border, 100 miles away, if they gave themselves up. But he said leaders of the Islamic group, and the foreign fighters believed to be among their ranks, will face justice.
Mr Gedi has ordered a countrywide disarmament that comes into effect tomorrow - an immense task in Somalia, which is awash with weapons after a 15-year civil war.
"The warlord era in Somalia is now over," Mr Gedi said at a news conference in the recently captured capital, Mogadishu, giving a three-day deadline for the handing over of all weapons.
The Prime Minister told journalists that Somalia's infamous warlords and clan militias must also abide by the order to give up their weapons.
"If they fail to heed the orders of the Government, the Government will forcefully extract weapons from them," he added.
Mr Gedi appealed for humanitarian aid for his country, and repeated calls for an African Union peacekeeping force.
Among the Islamic fighters are believed to be three al-Qaeda suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of American embassies. The Government had hoped to catch them before they slipped out of the country.
The US has been asked to provide air and sea surveillance to prevent suspected extremists from escaping, Somali officials said.
Meanwhile, in a bid to maintain stability to the country, a battalion of Ugandan troops is being primed to move in as peacekeepers in a few days. Major Felix Kulayigye, a spokesman for Uganda's army, said 1,000 troops were ready. "We have one battalion prepared to go to Somalia immediately after they are cleared by the ministry of foreign affairs," he said
Mr Gedi has repeatedly called for an African peacekeeping force to help his government take control of the country.