The leader of Hizbul Islam, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, called on Shabaab insurgents to agree to a ceasefire and end days of clashes around the southern port of Kismayo. “I am asking our brothers to stop the fighting, which is only useful to the enemy,” Aweys said. The death toll from yesterday™s battle in Jana Abdala village west of Kismayo rose to 17. Hizbul gunmen captured a Ugandan and a Kenyan national during fighting with Shabaab.
