Somali Militant Base Of Kismayo Attacked By Kenyan Forces

African Union (AU) forces have launched a beach assault and taken control of parts of Kismayo, the last major stronghold of Somalia's Islamist militants, Kenya's military says.

Al-Shabab used the port to bring in weapons and earn revenue.

But the al-Qaeda-aligned group has told reporters the attack has been rebuffed and none of the city has fallen.

Kenyan troops are part of the AU force trying to wrest control of the country for the new UN-backed president.

Kenyan military spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna told reporters that parts of Kismayo had been captured and the rest was expected to fall soon.

Col Oguna said the joint operation of the Kenyan Defence Forces and Somali government troops had begun at 02:00 local time (23:00 GMT Thursday) and was "basically amphibious".

"We cannot give casualty figures at the moment, the damage has not been assessed, but I can tell you our forces are already in Kismayo," Col Oguna told reporters.

"There are some parts that still will be under the control of al-Shabab because we only got there a couple of hours ago, and Kismayo is a big city."

The beach landing happened on the main road to Mogadishu to the north of the city, where al-Shabab spokesmen say they engaged in heavy fighting with the AU forces.

"It is a lie that Kenyan troops have captured Kismayo. But what they have done was a cowardly act, which was that they brought in troops in four ships to try to capture the city," al-Shabab spokesman Abu Musab reporters.

"And they landed them about nine kilometres (six miles) to the north of the city. Our fighters clashed and attacked them and they are defending themselves where they landed," he said.

The Kismayo residents told reporters they had seen no Kenyan or Somali government forces inside the city proper.

They said that al-Shabab fighters have been gathering in a district in the north of the city - Buulu Abliko - which was shelled by AU troops.

An eyewitness in Kismayo hospital said he had seen wounded civilians there. Other accounts suggest one civilian has been killed and three others have been wounded

Residents say they can also can hear shelling outside the city and people are scared that the fighting will spread.