MOGADISHU: Ethiopian troops in heavily armored vehicles crossed into central Somalia on Saturday, witnesses said, taking control of Baladwayne town and advancing on Al-Shabab insurgent positions in the area.
The strategic town is a stronghold of Al-Shabab, which the United States — Ethiopia’s ally in the Horn of Africa — accuses of being Al-Qaeda’s proxy in the country.
Battles have been raging across central and southern Somalia in recent weeks as pro-government militias try to seize territory back from Al-Shabab and another group, Hizbul Islam.
Residents said gunfire broke out in Baladwayne on Saturday as Ethiopian troops arrived alongside Somali government forces. “At about dawn, hundreds of Ethiopian troops entered the town from different directions and we heard sporadic gunshots,” resident Hassan Farah told Reuters by telephone. “After sunrise we saw soldiers patrolling the main streets.”
Another resident, Farah Ali, said Somali government forces had killed two suspected rebels during a sweep of the town. “Government forces were on an operation in the west of Baladwayne, which was an Al-Shabab stronghold. Many shops and hotels were looted. Several men were also arrested,” Ali said.
Residents said Al-Shabab’s fighters had mostly withdrawn in the face of the Ethiopian advance. “Al-Shabab militiamen pulled out of our village before dawn. We were woken by the sound of their battle wagons,” another resident, Halima Hassan, said. “Now a large number of government soldiers and Ethiopian forces are everywhere in the west of Baladwayne. They seem to be establishing a new base.”
Officials in Addis Ababa routinely deny that Ethiopian soldiers are on Somali soil, although they say they are providing security advice and training to Somalia’s forces. Ethiopia invaded its Horn of Africa neighbor with tacit US support at the end of 2006 to oust an Islamic group that was running the capital Mogadishu and much of the south. The Ethiopian military officially withdrew in January.
