Troops get set for the final blow against [Somalian] Islamists

Somali government forces supported by Ethiopian tanks and warplanes attacked retreating Islamic militias in their last stronghold yesterday.

Leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts urged their followers to stand and fight in the town of Jilib and the nearby port town of Kismayo, where about 3,000 fighters were holed up after fleeing 190 miles (300km) from the capital, Mogadishu.

Government officials said that they were intent on ridding the country of Islamists in a final showdown. Abdirahman Dinari, a spokesman, said: "€œWe have broken the courts and we control 95 per cent of the country. We have no interest in making any settlement. We will not finish until we have driven them from Somalia."