Ethiopian troops patrol in Somalia (Brocktown News)

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of Ethiopian troops were patrolling a strategic road that leads to Somalia‘s government headquarters after a brief but intense firefight in the area this week, witnesses said Wednesday.

"At least 200 Ethiopian troops are carefully patrolling the road," said Yusuf Kheyre, a resident of Bardale district about 40 miles southwest of the southern town of Baidoa where the government is based.

Ethiopia acknowledges sending "military advisers" — not soldiers — to Somalia, although Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has threatened to send tens of thousands of troops across the border if the Council of Islamic Courts attacks.

Experts have warned Somalia has become a proxy battleground for Somalia‘s neighbors, Eritrea and Ethiopia. A confidential U.N. report obtained last month by the AP said 6,000 to 8,000 Ethiopian troops are in or near Somalia‘s border with Ethiopia, backing the interim government. The report also said 2,000 troops from Eritrea are inside Somalia supporting the Islamic movement.

The Islamic Courts, meanwhile, have steadily gained ground since taking over Mogadishu in June and now control much of southern Somalia.

The group‘s strict and often severe interpretation of Islam raises memories of Afghanistan ‘s Taliban, which was ousted by a U.S.-led campaign for harboring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida fighters. The United States has accused Somalia‘s Islamic group of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

"The detainees were watching an Indian film dubbed into Somali language," said Abdi Shardi, a cinema owner.

"The flood problem in Somalia is more than we can fix alone," said Sheik Nor Barud, a spokesman for the Islamic courts‘ flood relief committee. He said his group will protect relief workers in areas under Islamic control.

Associated Press Writer Salad Duhul contributed to this report.

Source: Brocktown News