Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters have fled from their final stronghold around the southern Somali port town of Kismayu in the face of an advancing force of Ethiopian occupation soldiers.
A Kismayu resident said: "The Islamic courts left Kismayu last night. They left [their front line at] Jilib as well.
"Nobody knows where they went. There's a lot of confusion."
The besieged Islamic Courts had rallied several thousand fighters at Jilib, just north of Kismayu on the shores of the Indian Ocean, after a retreat south 300km from the capital, Mogadishu.
Ethiopian occupation troops had rained down mortars and rockets on the Islamic Courts men dug in near Kismayu on Sunday to start a battle against them.
Fearing a blood bath, residents ran for their lives, carrying blankets, food and water on their heads.
Jilib lies about 45km north of Kismayu, where Islamic Courts leaders Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed are based.
The Ethiopian force marched into Kismayu on Monday, but troops were slowed by having to clear mines left by Islamic Courts fighters on the road in.
Some residents took advantage of the temporary power vacuum to loot the Islamic Courts' arsenal in Kismayu.
A witness saw dozens grabbing machine guns and heavy weapons to carry away.
Now Ethiopians has control of Mogadishu and the Islamic Courts - without tanks or planes - are fighting with their backs to the sea and Somalia's southern border with Kenya.
Osman Mohamed, an aid worker, said: "Two-thirds of the population in Jilib have fled the town ... nearly 4,700 have fled."
The Islamic Courts have built trenches with bulldozers and have more than 60 "technicals" - pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons - supporting about 3,000 fighters, witnesses say.
Kenya has reinforced its northern border. Ethiopia says it has 4,000 occupation troops in Somalia, though many believe that number could be far higher up to 30 000.
Agencies
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