African forces invade rebel Comoros island

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

MUTSAMUDU, Comoros (AFP) — A coalition of Comoran and African Union troops on Tuesday invaded the rebel Comoran island of Anjouan battling to win control from a renegade president.

The 1,400 coalition of federal troops with soldiers from Tanzania and Sudan quickly took Mustamudu, the island's capital and main port, and the airport, the Comoran government claimed.

The invasion started just before dawn in a bid to capture rebel leader Mohamed Bacar, whose election last year as president of Anjouan has never been recognised by the international community and who has faced warnings of an invasion ever since.

Bacar's forces -- with red ribbons, the colour of the Anjouan flag, knotted around the barrels of their assault rifles -- were initially deployed on the...