Wednesday, October 04, 2006
BBC News
Fighters have been in control of the capital Mogadishu since June |
Islamic leaders have confirmed their occupation of several other towns closer to the Kenya border.
The UIC says it poses no security threat to neighbouring countries.
But senior Kenyan officers have completed anti-insurgency courses and officials have undergone anti-terrorist training, reports Kenya's media.
Tour
Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy to Somalia, Francois Fall, has arrived in Ethiopia at the start of a regional tour ahead of talks between the UIC and the transitional government due later this month.
Mr Fall is also due to visit Eritrea - which Ethiopia says is arming the Islamist militia - as well as Yemen, Sudan, Egypt and Uganda.
There are fears that the Islamist takeover of southern Somalia could turn into a full-scale regional war pulling in neighbouring countries and even involving the Americans, who accuse the Islamists of having links to al-Qaeda.
"One of the points of my mission is to ease tensions in the region because the Somali crisis has regional repercussions," Mr Fall told AFP news agency.
Kismayo, Somalia's third largest city, fell to the UIC without a shot being fired last month. Since then the towns of Afmadow, Bu'alle and Sakow have also fallen under their control.
The UIC has steadily increased its hold across southern Somalia since its fighters took control of the capital, Mogadishu, in June.
The country's transitional government is confined to a single town, Baidoa, and its president was the victim of a recent assassination attempt.
However, it remains recognised internationally as the sovereign authority of Somalia, which has not had an effective national government for 15 years.
Source: BBC, Oct 4, 2006