Somali/Ethiopian forces close in on Jilib and Islamists.

From the Guardian:

Thousands of Somalis began fleeing Sunday as heavily armed Ethiopian troops supported by tanks and MiG fighter jets closed in on the last remaining stronghold of a militant Islamic movement.

Up to 2,000 people, carrying what they could, streamed out of the southern Somali town of Jilib, where an estimated 3,000 hardcore Islamic fighters were wedged between the Kenyan border and the Indian Ocean and prepared for a final bloody showdown.

Samoli and Ethiopian troops are about 75 miles north of Jilib.

Islamic militant have stated they will fight to the death in both Jilib and Kismaayo.

"I want to tell you that the Islamic courts are still alive and ready to fight against the enemy of Allah,'' Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, "We left Mogadishu in order to prevent bloodshed in the capital, but that does not mean we lost the holy war against our enemy."

The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet also has a maritime task force patrolling international waters off the Somali coast.


For a complete day by day presentation of the fighting, click here.