Somali citizens are fleeing the city of Kismayo, the key stronghold of the Islamist group al-Shabab, as government forces close in on the city and defeat major pockets of terrorist resistance.

A general in the Somali army told the BBC they plan to take the port but did not give a timetable for the assault.

Kismayo is a port city on the Indian Ocean that is the main supply port for food and weapons for the Islamic terrorist group currently controlling a large part of the country. The Somali government has teamed with US and European forces to launch various assaults to remove the Islamists from control of the region.

The al-Qaeda backed terrorist group is claiming that the government is engaging in a propaganda war and that they are in firm control of Kismayo.

A US Navy spokesman confirmed there is a warship off the coast of Kismayo but said they were only on routine operations. The US has provided logical information to the Somali military and also conducted drone attacks.