From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Aug 29 2009 - 10:46:54 EDT
Al Jazeera English - AJE
Ethiopian troops enter Somali town
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Ethiopian troops have crossed into neighbouring Somalia and seized
control of a town from Islamist fighters, witnesses say.
Hundreds of troops reportedly entered the strategically important town
of Beledweyne on Saturday.
Abdinur Ahmed Maow, a local resident, told The Associated Press news
agency that the armed opposition fighters had left "without a single
shot".
Abdulahi Faramiliq, another resident of Beledweyne, said that the troops
were cordoning off residential areas and going from house to house
searching for weapons.
However, General Muqtar Hassan Afrah, the Somali military commander in
the region, denied that any Ethiopian troops were in the region.
Unpopular presence
Ethiopian forces withdrew from Somalia in January as part of a peace
deal, more than two years after moving in to help the UN-backed interim
government battle the Islamic Courts' Union, which had seized control of
much of the south and centre of the country.
Their presence was unpopular with the majority of Somalis and was used
by local Islamist groups as a recruiting tool.
Rashid Abdi, a Kenya-based Somalia analyst with the International Crisis
Group, said that it is unlikely that Ethiopia is planning to send a
larger force across the border.
"It's a strategic town for them," he said, referring to the Beledweyne's
location near the border.
"They want a buffer zone and they won't allow it to be in hostile
hands."
There have been several reports of Ethiopian troops crossing the border
in recent months, but the Somali government has not confirmed their
presence.
Somalia's government is struggling to control the country, despite
including several factions of the Islamic Courts' Union.
Fighters from al-Shabaab and Hizb ul-Islam groups have seized control of
large areas of the country and have vowed to topple the administration
of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the current president and former Islamic Courts
leader.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/08/2009829101133876939.htm
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