Kenyan navy shells Somali rebel armoury

Along with forces from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti, Kenyan troops have been battling the al-Qaeda-linked fighters as part of an African Union peace-keeping force tasked with wiping out the rebel strongholds.

Kenyan military spokesman Cyrus Oguna said the Kenyan navy shelled gun placements on the jetty at Kismayu yesterday morning, after fighter jets launched air strikes on a warehouse and armoury near the airport on Tuesday.

“It is what we call shaping up operations for the eventual attack on Kismayu. The attack by ground forces is not yet [on],” Mr Oguna said, adding that there were no immediate details of any casualties.

“We have information that there were explosions after the warehouse was hit and the armoury as well, so these were  basically munitions,” he said.

Kenya sent its troops into Somalia last October after the rebels were blamed for carrying out a series of raids on Kenyan soil targeting its security forces as well as western tourists.

The Kenyans, who are expected to lead the assault on Kismayu, are now within 24-30 miles of the port city at Jana  Cabdallah.

“When the time is right, they will begin to march towards Kismayu,” Mr Oguna said.

Somalia has made progress in the past year in battling the  Islamist militants who had taken control of large areas of south-central Somalia from 2007.

The Horn of Africa country elected a new president this month, but still faces security challenges, mainly bomb attacks carried out by al-Shabaab.