Mogadishu - Hundreds of residents have fled the southern Somali port of Kismayo after the Kenyan navy shelled the town ahead of an expected ground operation to capture it, officials and residents said on Tuesday.
Kismayo is the main remaining stronghold of the al-Qaeda-linked militants of al-Shabaab. The group, considered terrorists by the United States and others, is waging an insurgency against the UN-backed Somali government, which is being bolstered by African Union troops including Kenyan forces.