Ethiopian troops take control of Somali town, clash with al-Shabaab

Dec 31, 2011, 14:33 GMT

Johannesburg - Hundreds of Ethiopian troops poured into south-western Somalia on Saturday, taking control of a border town from al-Shabaab.

The Somali government subsequently said it was now in control of the strategic town of Beledweyne.

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist rebel group with ties to al-Qaeda, announced on its Twitter account that its forces had made a 'planned withdrawal' from the city and were now surrounding Beledweyne.

The group claimed there were 'raging' battles in the eastern part of the town. Media reports in Somalia said there was shelling and civilian deaths, but this could not be immediately confirmed.

Kenya moved its troops into southern Somalia in October, opening up a second front against al-Shabaab, which was ousted from the capital Mogadishu in August by Somali government troops backed by more than 9,000 African Union (AU) soldiers.

There have been previous reports of selective military engagements by Ethiopian troops inside western Somalia in recent months, and the government in November said it would consider sending soldiers to join the AU mission.

Somalia's weak central government, which has international backing, did not admit that Ethiopian troops were already inside the country, but did issue a call on Saturday for help from 'neighbouring countries, like Ethiopia' to defeat al-Shabaab.

Ethiopian troops moved into Somalia in late 2006, with backing from the United States, to take on the Islamist movement that was gaining control over the south of the country. But the move was unpopular in Somalia and al-Shabaab emerged then as a rebel force.

The Ethiopian troops left in 2009, after Somalia formed a new transitional government that was meant to be more inclusive and more likely to bring stability to the country, which has been mired in civil war since 1991.

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