From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jul 26 2008 - 15:57:53 EDT
UIC kill 40 Ethiopian soldiers
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:11:59
40 Ethiopian soldiers have been killed in a pitched battle with the
Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters in Somalia's Hiiran region.
The fighting erupted after Ethiopian troops, allied with the Somali
military, started shelling the central Somali region's Baladweyn town, a
Press TV correspondent reported.
During their indiscriminate attack, the soldiers fired artillery on both
the fighters and the town's civilian population ,creating an immediate
evacuation.
The UIC were said to have lost 20 fighters during the shelling.
The UIC fighters eventually seized some weaponry from the soldiers and
captured the biggest checkpoint in Baladweyn's outskirts.
The foomer US envoy to the United Nations, John Bolton, meanwhile,
suggested that the soldiers not be withdrawn from Somalia and thanked
them for their contributions. The soldiers' are said to be responsible
for the deaths of countless innocent Somali civilians.
Unabated violence has blighted the Horn of Africa nation since the
ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
The fighters enjoy strong popular support. They were removed from power
in 2006 following the US-backed invasion of Ethiopian troops.
HN/HAR
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