* Residents see troops in central and south Somalia (Adds Ethiopian troops
also entering from Kenya)
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles pushed
at least 80 km (50 miles) into neighbouring Somalia on Saturday, residents
said, five weeks after Kenya entered Somalia to fight Islamist militants it
blames for a wave of kidnappings on its soil.
"The Ethiopian troops, which are in convoys of armoured vehicles, come to us
today, crossing from Balanbale district on the border," Gabobe Adan, an
elder in the central town of Guriel told Reuters.
"They were in about 28 trucks and armed battle wagons - the armed vehicles
are very big."
Other residents told Reuters that the Ethiopians had set up a base in Guriel
and moved troops to other towns nearby.
Residents and officials in northeast Kenya later told Reuters that Ethiopian
troops had also crossed through their towns and taken up positions near
bases from where the Kenyan military is launching its offensive.
"We have seen Ethiopian troops. They are clearly known to us," a local named
Lesamow Said told Reuters. "They arrived this evening at Damasa. Some of the
soldiers crossed over to the Somalia side and started patrolling
immediately."
People in the Kenyan town of Mandera, which is near both Somalia and
Ethiopia, said the Ethiopians had passed through there in a convoy of 10
trucks and several armoured vehicles.
A spokesman for the Ethiopian government, Shimeles Kemal, would neither
confirm nor deny the reports.
Another Ethiopian official told Reuters that an Ethiopian move to support
the Kenyan assault on the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group was likely.
"There is a strong possibility that we will be sending troops to Somalia
soon to support Kenya's operation against the al Shabaab extremists," the
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Our deployment could either be implemented under the umbrella of AMISOM or
under another form, such as a separate operation alongside Kenya," he said.
FINAL ASSAULT ON AL SHABAAB?
AMISOM is an African Union force of Ugandan and Burundian troops that has
been largely responsible for keeping al Shabaab from ousting the
internationally backed government.
The intention of the Ethiopian troops was not immediately clear and one
local elder who did not want to be named said that they would train Somali
fighters loyal to the government.
Senior Kenyan government ministers have shuttled around the east Africa
region this week and travelled to the Gulf to drum up political and
financial support for a coordinated campaign to rout the rebels.
Some analysts say Ethiopia may want to take advantage of al Shabaab's
withdrawal from the capital Mogadishu in August to wipe out a group it sees
as a threat to its stability.
Since that pullout, the militants, who want to introduce a strict version of
sharia law, have resorted to suicide attacks and guerrilla-style tactics
against African Union troops.
Although Ethiopian troops regularly cross the border with Somalia, and it
has admitted opening "humanitarian corridors" into the country that it says
are for food relief, residents said the numbers and locations of the troops
were unusual.
"I have seen about 30 Ethiopian military vehicles myself. They have
entered," another Guriel resident, Farah Hussein, told Reuters. "We are very
happy to see them -- it is a sign of putting an end to al Shabaab."
Other people in the area, including some Ethiopian businessmen, told Reuters
that Ethiopian army officers had been meeting elders in central Somalia for
weeks.
Ethiopia entered Somalia in 2006, with tacit U.S. backing, to oust another
Islamist movement that had taken control of the capital Mogadishu and large
swathes of the country.
Its army set up a base in Guriel during that operation.
The presence of the Ethiopian troops was hugely unpopular with Somalis, and
with some analysts saying it was fanning support for new militant groups,
they withdrew in early 2009. (Writing by Barry Malone; Additional reporting
by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa, Sahra Abdi in Nairobi and Noor Ali in
Garissa)
Somali rebels say Ethiopian incursion shows Kenya failing
Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:03pm GMT
* Militants: Ethiopian entry sign of failed Kenyan intervention
* Ethiopia denies presence in Somalia
* Kenya says air strike destroys al Shabaab training camp
* East African leaders will meet on Friday (Adds ambush, reaction to air
strike, naval attack details)
By Feisal Omar
MOGADISHU, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Al Shabaab militants on Sunday welcomed a
reported incursion by hundreds of troops from neighbouring Ethiopia as a
sign that Kenya's offensive against the Islamist rebels was failing.
The Kenyan military said warplanes backed by salvoes from warships off
Somalia's coast destroyed an al Shabaab training camp in the Hola
Wajerer/Lacta area of the Babade district.
An al Shabaab spokesman told Reuters the air strikes had landed in empty
bush where they now had no bases.
The Kenyan assault on al Shabaab appeared to have slowed this week before
the move by Ethiopia with Kenya blaming heavy rains and mud. Al Shabaab says
guerrilla-style attacks have halted the advance.
Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles, ferrying troops and weapons, pushed
at least 80 km (50 miles) into Somalia on Saturday, according to local
residents and elders, crossing into the centre of the near-lawless country
from Ethiopia and travelling through Kenya to reach its south.
Ethiopia on Sunday continued to publicly deny that any of its forces had
entered its Horn of Africa neighbour.
Residents and elders witnessed the convoys and identified them to Reuters as
Ethiopian. Al Shabaab also reported the presence of Ethiopian forces in
several towns.
An Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said no decision had yet been made
on whether to support the Kenyan army, which entered Somalia five weeks ago
vowing to wipe out al Shabaab, who it blames for kidnapping and attacking
tourists on its soil.
"We are glad to say Ethiopian troops are in the Guriel area. They have come
because AMISOM and Kenya have failed in the fight against al Shabaab,"
Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, an al Shabaab spokesman, told Reuters.
AMISOM is an African Union force of Ugandan and Burundian troops that has
been largely responsible for keeping al Shabaab from ousting Somalia's
internationally-backed but weak government.
It was unclear what the intentions of the Ethiopians were. Some local elders
said they would fight al Shabaab and others that they will arm and train
militias loyal to the government.
The last time Ethiopia entered Somalia was in December 2006, with tacit U.S.
backing and at the invitation of a government that had lost control of the
capital Mogadishu and large swathes of the country to another Islamist
group.
VESSEL ABLAZE?
The Ethiopians left Somalia in early 2009 after ousting that group but
dogged by accusations that their presence, hugely unpopular with Somalis,
was inspiring support for militias such as al Shabaab who were not as
powerful at that time.
"Al Shabaab and the Ethiopians know each other. We made them pull out with
their dead bodies two years ago. They plan to ease the burden on Kenya and
AMISOM but we are really determined to fight them," Abu Musab said.
"Somalia is not a cool place to come and enjoy."
Sunday's air strike was the first of any note since the early days of
Kenya's intervention.
In a day of skirmishes and counter-claims, Kenya denied a statement from al
Shabaab that it had set a Kenyan navy vessel ablaze by firing
rocket-propelled grenades from speed boats.
Somali government officials confirmed the sea engagement to Reuters and said
the Kenyan military had hit one al Shabaab boat, which tallied with the
rebel statement.
On land, Somali military officials said al Shabaab had ambushed a joint
Kenyan-Somali patrol near Dhobley in the Lower Juba region.
"During the clashes we killed four al Shabaab militants and captured one of
them alive," Abdikarim Ali Yusuf, a senior Somali military officer, told
Reuters.
Al Shabaab said it killed eight Kenyans in the fight.
Police in the Dadaab refugee camp, a target of previous attacks by al
Shabaab, said they had found an unexploded improvised explosive device on
Sunday that had been hidden at the side of a road regularly used by United
Nations aid workers.
Kenyan government ministers have shuttled around east Africa this week and
gone to the Gulf to drum up political and financial support for a more
coordinated campaign to rout the rebels in a country notoriously tough for
foreign armies.
Some analysts say Ethiopia may want to take advantage of al Shabaab's
withdrawal from Mogadishu in August to wipe out a group it sees as a threat
to its stability.
The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said a final decision on whether to
join the assault against al Shabaab in some form would be taken next Friday.
"East African heads of state will meet on Friday to discuss ways of
stabilising Somalia and one plan is to boost the number of AMISOM troops
from both neighbouring countries and other African nations," Dina Mufti told
Reuters.
When asked if Addis Ababa would agree to a request for troops he said:
"Ethiopia supports Kenya's efforts and is very much part of the total
initiative." (Writing and additional reporting by Barry Malone; Additional
reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa, Sahra Abdi in Nairobi, Noor Ali
and Daud Yussuf in Garrisa and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu; Editing by Janet
Lawrence)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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Received on Sun Nov 20 2011 - 18:18:15 EST