1st Violation: Ethiopian troops moving on Somali supply route

[Oromia]

By Hassan Yare

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - About 500 Ethiopian troops were spotted in Somalia on Wednesday along a main supply route to the government stronghold in Baidoa, as rains and floods stalled a feared march to war in other parts of the country.

 

The column of soldiers along with four "technicals" -- pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons that are the standard combat vehicle in the poor, anarchic Horn of Africa nation -- passed through Hudur in a rare daytime sighting.

 

"I saw a convoy of Ethiopian trucks carrying troops traveling in the middle of the town this afternoon," Mukhtar Abdi, a resident of Hudur, told Reuters by telephone.

 

"They moved and are 5 km (3 miles) south of the town at the main water supply well."

 

Tensions have risen in Somalia since June when Islamist fighters took over the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords and moved on to wrest territory from the government now isolated in the southern town of Baidoa.

 

Fears that foreign involvement in Somalia could spark a regional war have grown amid reports arch foes Eritrea and Ethiopia could use the country as a proxy battleground, with Eritrea backing the Islamists and Ethiopia the government.

 

In recent weeks, a combination Somalia's torrential rains and tattered infrastructure -- the result of 15 years of anarchy since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 -- has limited troop movements.

 

Some experts say combat is unlikely to break out until the rains -- which the U.N. says have affected about 350,000 in the usually arid nation -- taper off, likely later this month.

 

"MAINLY INFANTRYMEN"

 

Security experts and diplomats estimate between 5,000 and 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers are inside Somalia to prop up the Western-backed government.

 

Hudur is directly north of Baidoa, about half the distance to the Ethiopian boder.

 

A businessman in Hudur, Abdishakur Ali Adan, told Reuters by phone: "These troops were mainly infantrymen."

 

Both estimated the strength of the force at about 500, and a local administration official who declined to be named confirmed their presence.

 

Ethiopia makes a distinction between fighting soldiers and military trainers, several hundred of which it admits to having sent to Baidoa.

 

"We have made our position crystal clear that we have no troops inside Somalia," Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekele said.

 

But the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which has eclipsed the government as the country's premier military and political force, says they are there as invaders and has threatened holy war against Addis Ababa and anyone who sides with them.

 

(Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle)

 

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=uri:2006-12-06T172512Z_01_L06838186_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SOMALIA-CONFLICT-COL.XML&pageNumber=1&summit=

[Oromia]

Eritrea: 8 Ethiopian Soldiers Arrive Opposing TPLF Regime's Invasion of Somalia

 

Shabait.com (Asmara)

 

December 6, 2006

Posted to the web December 6, 2006

 

Asmara

 

8 Ethiopian soldiers arrived in Eritrea opposing the TPLF regime's invasion of Somalia. One of the soldiers, Alelign Simeneh disclosed that troops from different divisions of the Ethiopian Army have entered Somalia territory in breach of its sovereignty. He added that the regime is imprisoning officers, soldiers and health professionals under the guise of evaluation after the defection of two Ethiopian generals who have joined the opposition.

 

Accordingly, Lt. Colonel Girma, ex-secretary of Maj. General Bacha Debele and several other senior officers and health professionals who were members of the Army and an unknown number of nurses have defected.

 

The 8 soldiers are Kemal Kemalo Sheik, Hassan Mohammed Ibrahim, Wegari Gidina Mokjera, Abyot Sheferaw Hunde, Teyib Haji Temam Suleiman, all 5 from the Oromo ethnic group, and Alelign Simeneh Gezu and Adane Mekuanint Ayichew, both from the Amhara ethnic group, as well as Abdi Saleh Mohammed, a Tigrayan.

 

http://allafrica.com/stories/200612060718.html

[Wisdom_Seeker]

Oroma, thanks for the news.

 

 

But either ways we will have somalis who will support the TFg, because of tribe reasons, even thou they won't admit it.

[Oromia]

Jittery Ethiopia On War Footing With Somalia's Islamists By Ulrike Koltermann

Dec 3, 2006, 3:10 GMT

 

Addis Ababa - Ambulances scurried through the streets of Addis Ababa this week, while helicopters buzzed overhead and sirens wailed. It was simply an emergency drill, the Ethiopian government reassured its citizens on state-run radio.

 

It gave no explanation for the large-scale exercise. For many Ethiopians the reason is clear: The government is preparing the population for possible war with Islamists in neighbouring Somalia.

 

'The last time we had similar drills was just before our war against Eritrea,' recalled an Ethiopian journalist in Addis Ababa.

 

In recent weeks, there have been increasing reports of Ethiopian troops in Somalia and clashes there with Islamists, who now control much of the country. Earlier this week, Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Ethiopian forces had fired missiles at the Islamist-held town of Bandiradley.

 

The Ethiopian government had steadfastly denied the presence of combat troops in Somalia, but concedes having sent some 200 'military advisors' to back the weak Somali transitional government. Meanwhile, several thousand Ethiopian soldiers are deployed along the border with Somalia, the government in Addis Ababa says.

 

'Ethiopia is under direct threat,' remarked Professor Abraham Kinfe, head of the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, a think tank with close ties to the government. He noted that Somalia's Islamists had repeatedly voiced their intention to found an Islamic state that included ethnic Somalis in Kenya and Ethiopia.

 

'That's tantamount to a declaration of war,' Kinfe said, adding, 'We're afraid because they're extremists who support terrorists.'

Kinfe said there was no religious conflict in Ethiopia, and that relations between Christians and Muslims were fundamentally good.

 

'We're traditionally a Christian country, but Muslims have lived here since the start of the spread of Islam in the seventh century,' he said. 'We don't have anything against Islam, but we want to stop extremists who use religion for political purposes.'

 

Many Ethiopians view their government's sabre-rattling with concern. 'People here don't want war. An escalation of the conflict with Somalia jeopardises the stability of the entire region,' said an Ethiopian journalist who requested anonymity.

 

The journalist said the government's martial rhetoric was an attempt to distract from internal problems such as the continuing incarceration of more than 100 government opponents and journalists.

 

'People don't like talking about politics. Government informers are everywhere, and if you're not careful you end up in prison yourself,' he said.

 

Since the crackdown on the opposition and press a year ago, a number of donor countries have suspended aid to Ethiopia. This, say political observers, has made the Ethiopian government more dependent on support from the United States, which does not want Somalia's Islamists to take over the whole country.

 

'The position of the United States is the same as ours,' Kinfe said. 'We are determined to keep the extremists in Somalia from coming to power.'

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

 

 

© Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com.

This notice cannot be removed without permission.