See previous: Jihadis crumble as Ethiopians advance (Updated and bumped, again -- jihadis abandon Mogadishu), Somali jihadis continue to crumble, Somali jihadis continue to crumble -- Update

Islamoutta Here
Jules Crittenden

Islamists hightailing it out of Kismayo for Kenyan border. ...

Love that title, Jules.

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Somali Islamists flee stronghold

KISMAYO, Somalia (AP) -- Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and MiG fighter jets have captured the last major stronghold of a militant Islamic movement, the prime minister said Monday.

Ali Mohamed Gedi also offered an amnesty to hundreds of Islamic fighters fleeing south toward the Kenyan border, 160 kilometers (100 miles) away if they gave themselves up, but offered no amnesty for leaders of the Islamic group.

"I can confirm to you that our forces have captured Kismayo," Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said following a 13-day onslaught against the Islamic forces by government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and MiG fighter jets.

He also ordered a countrywide disarmament that comes into effect Tuesday, an immense task in Somalia which is awash with weapons after a 15-year civil war.

"The warlord era in Somalia is now over," Gedi said at a news conference in the recently captured capital, Mogadishu, giving a three-day deadline for the handover of all weapons.

The prime minister told journalists that Somalia's infamous warlords and clan militias must also abide by the order to give up weapons.

"If they fail to heed the orders of the government, the government will forcefully extract weapons from them," he added.

Islamic forces have promised to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war if defeated.

Among those sought were three al Qaeda suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies who the government said were being sheltered by the Islamic group. The government hoped to catch them before they slipped out of the country.

The United States has also been asked to provide air and sea surveillance to prevent suspected extremists from escaping, Somali officials said.

Meanwhile ...

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Somali Troops Close In on 3 Wanted for U.S. Embassy Bombings

KISMAYO, Somalia  —  Fighting erupted Sunday on the outskirts of the last remaining stronghold of Somalia's militant Islamic movement, as thousands of residents streamed from the area ahead of the feared battle with Ethiopian-backed government troops.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said the militants in the coastal city of Kismayo were sheltering three men wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 250 people.

"If we capture them alive we will hand them over to the United States," Gedi said. ...

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Somali Islamist Cowards Flee Kismayo
See-Dubya

Just like they fled from Mogadishu when the Ethiopians approached, the Islamic Courts Union forces are hightailing it out of their last stronghold of Kismayo. Now they’re blustering about starting an insurgency. Whatever. They had vowed to stand and fight it out, but as I noted here, they learned it’s a lot harder to fight trained men with guns instead of women and children.

I expect some of the soldiers will simply desert and blend back in to society. As for the runners, where are they going? If you imagine Somalia shaped like a big number 7, they are now down in the very bottom of the 7 and have no place to go but Kenya:

Residents of Kismayo said the remaining Islamists were heading toward Ras Kamboni, a small town on the Kenyan border which western intelligence officers say has been used as a terrorist hide-out before. ...

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More here and here.

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Ed Morrissey:

... The collapse of their hold in Somalia has punctured the myth of invincibility of these supposed holy warriors and exposed as lies their pledges to fight to the death to hold the ummah. Now that they have shown their true colors, the armies of Kenya and Ethiopia will have little trouble wiping up what's left of the terrorist and tyrranous Arab and South Asian militias.

Once again, this shows the West how to properly square off against Islamist forces. Only by conducting a true war with massive, overwhelming force will these terrorists be destroyed.