Rebel al-Shabab fighters have pulled out of the southern port city of Kismayo, their last stronghold in the country, after a military assault by Kenyan and Somali troops, the rebels have said.
"The military command of al-Shabab mujahedeen ordered a tactical retreat at midnight," Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the rebel group, said on Saturday.
Rage said, however, that the group would continue to fight for control of the town.
Al Jazeera's Peter Greste reports.