By Hassan Yare | December 24, 2006
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Ethiopian planes dropped bombs and fired missiles on two locations in Somalia on Sunday, witnesses said, as fighting between Somali Islamists and their Ethiopian-allied rivals raged for a sixth day.
There was no immediate word from Ethiopia, the Somali interim government or the Islamists.
Resident Abdirashid Hassan said he saw planes drop bombs on the outskirts of Baladwayne, 190 miles from the capital Mogadishu. "The Ethiopians have started bombing," he said by telephone.
Another witness, businessman Farah Osman, said two Ethiopian planes fired missiles on the outskirts of Bandiradley, 435 miles north of Mogadishu.
If confirmed, the use of foreign attack aircraft would raise the stakes in the most sustained combat yet between the Ethiopia-backed interim government and Islamists.
The Islamists took power in Mogadishu and a swathe of southern Somalia in June, challenging the Western-backed interim government's aim to restore central rule for the first time since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
This week's clashes have heightened fears of a major regional war that would ensnare Horn of Africa rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea and trigger possible suicide bombings in East Africa.
Fighters loyal to both sides started firing shells, rockets and machine guns at each other shortly after dawn, witnesses said, in battles that spread to four fronts.
Military experts estimate Ethiopia has 15,000-20,000 troops in Somalia, while Eritrea has about 2,000 behind the Islamists.
Asmara denies the accusation, while Addis Ababa admits only having a few hundred military trainers in Baidoa.
"Fighting is going on from one part of the country to the other. The Islamic Courts have ignited the war they promised yesterday," Information Minister Ali Ahmed Jama "Jangali" told Reuters from the encircled government base Baidoa.
"They will lose in this fighting."
Both sides say they have killed hundreds since the fighting began on Tuesday, although aid agencies report dozens of dead.
An Islamist fighter close to the semi-autonomous Puntland region, north of Baidoa, said: "Now there is a full-blown war."
Heavy fighting was reported round Daynunay, the government's forward military base about 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Baidoa. Battles also broke out in Manas to the west, Kalaber to the north and Bandiradley, close to the border with Puntland.
A hospital source, declining to be identified, said medical teams were waiting to treat troops from the front.
"The fighting is getting nastier. There must be a lot of casualties," the source said.
On Saturday, the Islamists urged foreign Muslim fighters to join their "holy war" against Ethiopia. They accuse Christian-led Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally in its war against terrorism, of invading Somalia.
(Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed and Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu)
© Copyright 2006 Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third-party content providers. Any copying, republication, or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa ... _fighting/
Ethiopian planes bomb Somali areas: witnesses
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Aweys osman Yusuf
Mogadishu 24, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) – The fighting in Somalia has expanded into fresh areas of central provinces, with independent reports indicating that the Ethiopian military forces are directly involved in fighting with Islamic Courts Union that controls the country’s capital city, Mogadishu.
On Sunday, bitter fighting rages from Daynunay, less than 30 km southeast of Baidoa, a seat for the interim government, Jawil and Bandiradley in central Somalia. Residents in Baidoa say they could hear the loud sounds of the artillery and mortar shells explosions.
Casualties of the war are still unclear as both sides claim they killed hundreds from each other.
Reports from Bandiradley say hundreds of Ethiopian military troops backing the transitional government have air raided Islamist targets in Jawil near the Ethiopian border.
Abu Salman, the Islamic Courts officer in Jawil said the Ethiopian troops were air-pounding Jawil using helicopter gun-ships and tanks. He alleged that the Ethiopian troops have initiated the fight early Sunday morning.
Residents in Hiran provincial main town of Baledweyn say fear that the war may inflict their town has escalated, with some has already begun fleeing their homes.
The fighting between the Islamic Courts Union and Ethiopian forces, protecting the transitional government, has started predawn in Bandiradley within Mudug region, central Somalia. Witnesses say the Ethiopian military forces, accompanied by Abdi QeybdidÂ’s militias and troops of the autonomous regional government of Puntland have occupied near Bandiradley, the ICU military barrack in central Somalia.
Abdi Qeybdid was the last warlord forcefully evicted from the capital in 12 July this year.
Sheik Mohamood Jimale Agoweyne, the ICU spokesperson for central regions in the country, has accused Ethiopia of attacking their bases. “Ethiopian military aircrafts are positioned in Galkayo airport and it is possible that they will use them in their war against us”, he added.
Puntland administration was not available for comments over the new situation in the areas under its control.
The spreading war that might suck in neighboring countries shows no sign of cessation, despite approved peace talks by the Islamic Courts and the transitional government based in Baidoa, 245 km (155 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu.
Thousands of people have fled their homes in Daynunay, Idaale and Manas near Baidoa, with some even fleeing the capital in fear of Ethiopian air bombings.
The war has entered its sixth day.
http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne1931.htm
Mogadishu 24, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) – The fighting in Somalia has expanded into fresh areas of central provinces, with independent reports indicating that the Ethiopian military forces are directly involved in fighting with Islamic Courts Union that controls the country’s capital city, Mogadishu.
On Sunday, bitter fighting rages from Daynunay, less than 30 km southeast of Baidoa, a seat for the interim government, Jawil and Bandiradley in central Somalia. Residents in Baidoa say they could hear the loud sounds of the artillery and mortar shells explosions.
Casualties of the war are still unclear as both sides claim they killed hundreds from each other.
Reports from Bandiradley say hundreds of Ethiopian military troops backing the transitional government have air raided Islamist targets in Jawil near the Ethiopian border.
Abu Salman, the Islamic Courts officer in Jawil said the Ethiopian troops were air-pounding Jawil using helicopter gun-ships and tanks. He alleged that the Ethiopian troops have initiated the fight early Sunday morning.
Residents in Hiran provincial main town of Baledweyn say fear that the war may inflict their town has escalated, with some has already begun fleeing their homes.
The fighting between the Islamic Courts Union and Ethiopian forces, protecting the transitional government, has started predawn in Bandiradley within Mudug region, central Somalia. Witnesses say the Ethiopian military forces, accompanied by Abdi QeybdidÂ’s militias and troops of the autonomous regional government of Puntland have occupied near Bandiradley, the ICU military barrack in central Somalia.
Abdi Qeybdid was the last warlord forcefully evicted from the capital in 12 July this year.
Sheik Mohamood Jimale Agoweyne, the ICU spokesperson for central regions in the country, has accused Ethiopia of attacking their bases. “Ethiopian military aircrafts are positioned in Galkayo airport and it is possible that they will use them in their war against us”, he added.
Puntland administration was not available for comments over the new situation in the areas under its control.
The spreading war that might suck in neighboring countries shows no sign of cessation, despite approved peace talks by the Islamic Courts and the transitional government based in Baidoa, 245 km (155 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu.
Thousands of people have fled their homes in Daynunay, Idaale and Manas near Baidoa, with some even fleeing the capital in fear of Ethiopian air bombings.
The war has entered its sixth day.
http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne1931.htm
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