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Ethiopian Troops Return To Somalia: MP Slain In Mogadishu
20 June 2009 Ethiopian troops have reportedly crossed into neighbouring Somalia after it made a plea for foreign troops to help it battle opposition fighters seeking to overthrow the government. Somalia's parliamentary speaker made the request on Saturday after several days of heavy fighting in the north of the capital, Mogadishu. "The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours," Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, the Somali parliamentary speaker, said. Ethiopian troops last entered Somalia in late 2006 to support the then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif Ahmed, the current president. Ahmed later joined the government after signing a UN-brokered peace deal and is now battling former allies from the al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam groups, which have vowed to topple his government.
Ethiopian troops have reportedly crossed into neighbouring Somalia after it made a plea for foreign troops to help it battle opposition fighters seeking to overthrow the government. Somalia's parliamentary speaker made the request on Saturday after several days of heavy fighting in the north of the capital, Mogadishu.
"The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours," Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, the Somali parliamentary speaker, said. Ethiopian troops last entered Somalia in late 2006 to support the then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif Ahmed, the current president.
Ahmed later joined the government after signing a UN-brokered peace deal and is now battling former allies from the al-Shabab and Hizbul-Islam groups, which have vowed to topple his government.
The Ethiopian troops who reached in Elberde town in Bakol region yesterday have returned back from it after having talks with the elders in the town, witnesses told local radio.
Reports say that the Ethiopian troops with officials poured in parts of Bakol region and had met with the elders and people of the Elberde town for several hors and lately went back from it.
It is unclear why the Ethiopian troops arrived there yesterday. But some reports say that they came the town to meet and talk to the people and elders of the town and it is not known what the Ethiopian troops and elders discussed so far.
We contacted to the elders who met with the Ethiopian troops and asked some thing about the meeting but they declined to comment on it.
How ever, it is not the first time the Ethiopian troops come in parts of Bakol region in Southern Somalia and talk to elders and people.
But the step comes as the former administration of transitional government in Bakol region is away from there.
Reports from Nairobi in Kenya said that it remained to be seen what action Ethiopian forces would take. "Ethiopia has got a big stake in what is going on in Somalia because it believes that its security would be threatened if the Islamist militias, such as al-Shabab, take over Somalia," he said. "But I doubt it is sending its forces into Somalia, unless it gets its actions sanctioned by the United Nations, which would take weeks, if not months. "Ethiopia's return to Somalia might be about securing its borders rather than heading to Mogadishu." Nur said that he had been forced to call for help after the opposition fighters had been bolstered by hundreds of foreigners. "We have a state of emergency in this country today because foreign fighters from all over the world are fighting the government," he said. Nur also said that an al-Qaeda operative from Pakistan was directing the fighting and was based in the Sanna neighbourhood of Mogadishu, close to the presidential palace. He did not provide any evidence for his claims. The United States has previously said that the al-Shabab movement, which has vowed to topple the government, is supported by al-Qaeda.
Heavy fighting There were reports of heavy fighting on Saturday in Hamarweh, another suburb near the presidential palace, after clashes in the northern Karan district overnight. "I saw heavily armed Islamist fighters advancing onto Hamarweh area. They are firing mortar shells and government forces are retaliating," Warsameh Ahmed, a Mogadishu resident, told the AFP news agency. "It seems they are close to taking control of the area." Three high-profile government officials - the security minister, an MP and a senior police officer - have been killed in recent days. More than 4,300 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers are already deployed in Somalia as part of an African Union (AU) force and are charged with protecting strategic sites such as the presidency, the port and the airport. But the troops are not allowed to fight alongside government forces and are authorised only to retaliate if they come under direct attack. Kenya said on Friday that it would not sit by and allow the situation in its neighbour to deteriorate further as it would destabilise the rest of the region. It said that the AU was committed to increasing its commitment, but al-Shabab had warned against any foreign intervention. Sheikh Hasan Yacqub, an al-Shabab spokesman, said in the southern port city of Kismayo: "Kenya had been saying that it will attack the mujahidin of al-Shabab for the last four months. "If it tries to, we will attack Kenya and destroy the tall buildings of Nairobi." Thousands of residents fled Mogadishu on Saturday, many of them joining the estimated 400,000 people who are living rough along the Afgooye corridor, about 20km south of the capital.
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