... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
jihad boy stronghold of Kismayo, Somalia, United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
officials are urging armed forces to try to minimize civilian casualties.
U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden met with the Kenyan defense minister and military officials in Nairobi Wednesday to discuss ways to protect civilian lives as the military operation heats up around the port city.
"The concern is that their interests are safeguarded and hopefully we can then make sure these people don't become long-termed displaced populations, and are able to return to safety as soon as possible," he said.
Accounts of civilian casualties
According to Kenyan military officials, ships have been shelling al-Shabaab targets in Kismayo, and receiving return fire from jihad boys, in the past few months. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
urged Kenyato investigate an August shelling incident in which two children and a pregnant woman were killed.
Although Kenya's military was integrated with African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
forces (AMISOM) in June, its naval ships continue to operate independent of the AMISOM mission.
Kenyan military front man Colonel Cyrus Oguna said that, in operating independently, Kenyan forces are doing nothing illegal.
"We're not entirely banned from using maritime forces as long as it's in line with our national interests," he said. "So yes, that's why we're using maritime forces [to shell Kismayo], including air forces. As long as we're using it to protect our national interests and we're also taking care of collateral damage, we have not broken any law whatsoever."
Oguna also said Kenyan and Somali forces captured the town ofJana Cabdalla, which is within 50 kilometers of Kismayo, on Wednesday.
A fight to the death
Military officials and witnesses have said al-Shabaab commanders have been fleeing Kismayo this week, but that some fighters may be staying behind to defend the city.
VOA Somali service reports an al-Shabaab radio transmitter dismantled earlier this week in Kismayo is again up and running, broadcasting the group's message and urging residents to stay calm, but vowing to fight to the death.
Bowden said there has been a spike in the number of civilians fleeing the coastal city, one of the Somali jihad boy group's last remaining bastions.
"At the moment there appears to be a level of panic or concern about military operations, and yesterday we recorded over a thousand people leaving Kismayo," said Bowden, explaining that plans for providing humanitarian access to those in need must be made as soon as possible.