KISMAYO, Somalia, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Fighters from the al-Qaida affiliated Islamist group al-Shabaab have left their stronghold in the Somali port city of Kismayo, residents said.
The residents told the BBC that Somali government forces along with African Union soldiers have driven the group out of the port.
The militants were seen leaving on buses and trucks and taking their heavy equipment with them. But a spokesman for al-Shabaab denied the group has retreated and said instead that its forces have pushed back government troops, the British broadcaster reported.
African Union troops have been advancing towards Kismayo for months. The city is located 328 miles southwest of Mogadishu where the Jubba River empties into the Indian Ocean.
A United Nations report in July said the export of charcoal from Kismayo helped al-Shabaab generate millions of dollars despite a United Nations ban on the purchase of charcoal from Somalia.
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