Ethiopian tanks have driven south from Mogadishu to attack fighters of the Islamic courts movement whose leader reportedly urged them to make a stand in Kismayu, a port city in Somalia.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys apparently made the call during Friday prayers at a mosque, a day after armed units of his Somalia Islamic Courts Council fled the capital in the face of Ethiopian occupation force.
Ethiopian fighter jets were seen over Kismayu and the nearby town of Jilib on Friday and Saturday, the military expert said.
A puppet "government" soldier said Islamic courts fighters had sown the road from Mogadishu with mines as they pulled back.
"We are heading to Jilib in a convoy of 15 Ethiopian tanks," Ahmednur Yasin told Reuters by telephone. "There are more forces heading to Buale and I am sure the fighting will start soon."
One Islamic courts fighter, who asked not to be named, said: "We will fight the Ethiopian invaders. The Jihad will not stop."
Agencies
Publication time: 30 December 2006, 16:33
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