MOGADISHU — Ethiopian tanks rumbled south from Mogadishu to attack Somali Islamists on Saturday after their hardline clerical leader reportedly exhorted his fighters to make a final stand in the port city of Kismayu.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys apparently made the call during Friday prayers at a Kismayu mosque, a day after his Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fighters fled the capital in the face of government troops backed by Ethiopian armour.
"If that is true then it is likely the Ethiopians are going to finish him," a military expert who tracks events in the Horn of Africa country told Reuters. Crowning a dramatic turnaround after a 10-day land and air offensive by Ethiopia in support of Somalia's weak interim government, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi swept into Mogadishu on Friday saying the fight for political survival had been won.
President Abdullahi Yusuf was expected to fly into Afgoye, 20 km (12 miles) west of the city, later on Saturday and an armoured convoy headed out to meet him.
The SICC leaders have promised resistance – despite their hasty retreat – and as Gedi settled into the capital, government troops and Ethiopian forces pursued them south.
"Jihad Goes On"
Ethiopian fighter jets were seen over Kismayu and nearby Jilib town on Friday and Saturday, the military expert said.
A Somali government soldier said the Islamists – accused by Addis Ababa and Washington of being backed by Al Qaeda – had laced the highway 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."
"All the terrorists are in Jilib and Kismayu," said a senior Somali government source.
The Islamists said they knew they were going to be attacked.
"We will fight the Ethiopian invaders. The jihad will not stop," said one SICC fighter who asked not to be named.
Parliament was expected to vote on Saturday to declare three months of martial law aimed at disarming thousands of militia loyal to a host of former warlords blamed for years of anarchy.
Gedi's government depends almost entirely on Addis Ababa for its military muscle, analysts say, and it was far from clear how it would maintain security if or when leave.
Residents and analysts fear a guerrilla war by the SICC.
