Somali government and AU forces staged an assault on Kismayo on Friday

BBC

The first Somali government and African Union troops are reported to have entered the strategic Somali port of Kismayo, witnesses and officials say.

They have been battling the al-Shabab militia for control of the city, reports the BBC.

On Saturday, the al-Qaeda-aligned militants said they had withdrawn from Kismayo after an AU military assault.

Kenyan and Somali forces had launched a beach assault on the Islamist group's last major bastion the day before, but had met some resistance.

Reports as to the size and make-up of the AU contingent have been mixed.

One resident told the BBC Somali Service that a small infantry unit of 11 Somali soldiers had entered the city from the west and were patrolling on foot on the main roads of Kismayo, while another said he had seen both Kenyan and Somali troops entering the city centre from the airport.

Around 100 troops were seen by a tribal elder in Kismayo taking over a police station and setting up an outpost on top of a tall building.

Somali government spokesman in Kismayo Mohamed Faarah Daher told the BBC that AU and Somali forces had gone in to the city to make it secure for the population, and had also taken up positions at the airport and sea port.

Kenyan troops are part of an African force trying to wrest control of Somalia from militants for the new United Nations-backed president.

After resisting the AU and Somali advance on Friday, al-Shabab announced it had shut its five-year administration in Kismayo the next day for strategic reasons.