From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 25 2008 - 13:49:30 EDT
18 killed in central Somalia clashes
July 25, 2008
MOGADISHU (AFP) — The death toll from clashes between Ethiopian
forces and Somali Islamist fighters rose to 18 after villagers found
nine more bodies Friday, witnesses said.
Fighting erupted
Thursday when Ethiopian troops came under insurgent attack in
Beledweyne town, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the capital
Mogadishu, prompting a return of fire that killed nine civilians.
"We
sent a committee to asses the casualties and they confirmed at least 18
civilians, most of them nomads who brought livestock to the town, were
killed in two days," said Osman Sheik Mohamed, a local elder.
He added that thousands of civilians had been displaced.
"Some
of the dead were collected from outside the town where they were killed
in the crossfire," said Hadi Abdi Yusuf, a local aid worker.
Residents said the clashes raged for a second day Friday with the rival sides firing artillery shells at each other.
Ethiopia
sent troops into Somalia in late 2006 to help dislodge Islamists who
had taken control of much of south and central Somalia and continues to
back the country's weak transitional government.
The insurgents
have vowed to fight on until Ethiopian forces pull out of the troubled
Horn of Africa nation that has been wracked by lawlessness since the
1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iSAoCYreM4efdsrkIkrHpICwb-bA
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