Insurgents Control Most of Strategic Somali Port City
By VOA News
22 August 2008
Witnesses say Islamist militants have taken control of most of Somalia's largest port city, Kismayo, after three days of fighting that has killed at least 55 people.
Residents in Kismayo say the militants have nearly defeated the local clan militia they have been fighting since Wednesday.
Doctors say at least 100 people have been wounded in the violence.
Kismayo is a strategic port south of the capital, Mogadishu. Its loss to the militants would deal a blow to the country's Ethiopian-backed interim government, which has been fighting the insurgents for the past 18 months.
The interim government signed a peace deal with a moderate opposition faction on Monday, but insurgents and opposition hard-liners have rejected the deal and vowed to continue their fight for control of the country.
Thousands of Somalis have died in the fighting, which erupted after Ethiopian and Somali troops pushed an Islamist movement from power in southern and central areas of the country.
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