http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/more-ethiopian-troops-seen-in-central-somalia-residents/
More
Ethiopian troops seen in central Somalia-residents
27 Nov 2011 18:39
By Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Nov 27 (Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops
have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said
on Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help
Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents.
Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said on Friday
that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period".
An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged on Friday that a small
force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had
previously denied scores of military trucks and armoured vehicles had
entered Somalia on Nov. 19 and 20.
On Sunday, residents from towns in central Somalia said they had seen new,
larger convoys.
"We have seen heavily armed Ethiopian troops with tanks heading to Guriel
and Baladwayne. There are many more of them and (they are) more armed than
last week," Ahmed Muhudin Ugas told Reuters from Balanbal town.
"Since yesterday afternoon I counted over 100 armed trucks with tanks;
their convoy has not stopped yet."
A senior official with the pro-Mogadishu Sufi militia group Ahlu Sunna
Waljamaca also confirmed the deployment.
"Yes, Ethiopian troops are here and more have entered central Somalia," the
official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by phone. "Al Shabaab will
be ousted from central Somalia but when and how are political points we do
not want to disclose now."
Kenya sent troops into Somalia last month to crush al Shabaab, accusing the
militant network of frequent attacks on its security forces and tourists
inside Kenya.
Ethiopian soldiers previously went into Somalia in 2006, and left the
country in early 2009 after ousting the Islamist Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
from de facto power in Mogadishu.
They were dogged by accusations that their intervention, hugely unpopular
with Somalis, was a rallying call for militias such as al Shabaab, who were
not as powerful at that time.
This time, Ethiopia insists the deployment will be brief, although it has
not given details on the size of the contingent.
Another resident in Guriel, in the central Galgadud region, said he had
seen two different convoys of Ethiopian forces.
"Last night there was a convoy of Ethiopian troops that reached the town,"
Abdinur Osman Moalim told Reuters. "I don't know their number, but early in
the morning we saw more than 40 vehicles of armed Ethiopian troops."
(Editing by George Obulutsa and; Alessandra Rizzo)
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Received on Mon Nov 28 2011 - 11:36:43 EST