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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 30 2010 - 09:20:49 EDT
Ethiopia troops in Somalia to battle radicals
By Abdulkadir Khalif Nation Correspondent
Posted Sunday, August 29 2010 at 18:06
Mogadishu, Sunday
A large number of Ethiopian troops in military vehicles on Sunday
reached Somali villages after crossing its borders with Hiran region
in Central Somalia.
The Ethiopians, according to residents in the Beledweyne town, 335
kilometres north of Mogadishu, seem more serious than before to tackle
the authority of Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group opposing the
Transitional Federal Government, in Hiran region.
Crossed the border
Residents along the border area contacted by The Nation confirmed that
the Ethiopian troops crossed the border between Somalia twice in five
days.
“In both cases, the Ethiopians were accompanied by highly trained
Somali soldiers that are loyal to the TFG,” said Mr Aden Abdi Yusuf, a
businessman in Beledweyne.
The Ethiopian troop’s movements come at a time Al-Shabaab militants
occasionally venture close to the border with Ethiopia.
According to Hussein Abdallah, a loyalist of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, a
moderate Islamist group allied with the Somali government, the
movements may be a preliminary action to signal Al-Shabaab authorities
that the Ethiopians are capable of weakening the strength of the
radical Islamists.
This will be done should they continue pressing hard on the TFG and
the peacekeepers serving the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom,
in Mogadishu.
Early this month, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi said that he
would deploy forces should Amisom peacekeepers guarding vital
installations in Mogadishu find themselves in great danger and request
assistance.
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