Ethiopian troops enter Somalia

Press TV ^ | Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:34:31 GMT | Press TV

[BP2]

Somali residents say heavily-armed Ethiopian soldiers have crossed into central Somalia by entering a border town controlled by a pro-government militia.

"They came with battle wagons and trucks all full of soldiers and guns," said Hassan Abdi, a resident in the town of Balanbale in Galgadud region. "Everybody is very worried."

Ethiopian troops were setting up positions in the center of the town, residents said according to Reuters.

Central Somalia has been the scene of heavy fighting between insurgents and the pro-government groups.

"We are ready to fight the Ethiopians if they come close to our forces, we will give them a lesson," Hassan Maalin Takow, an al Shabaab commander told Reuters.

Al Shabaab and allied group Hizbul Islam is trying to oust the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed --a former rebel who was elected in January-- and impose a strict version of Islamic law throughout the Horn of Africa's nation.

The insurgents control large swathes of the south and parts of the capital Mogadishu. They have been battling pro-government forces this month in a bid to increase their influence in the center of Somalia.

Ethiopia sent thousands of troops into Somalia in 2006 to help topple a rebel movement that controlled Mogadishu and most of the south. That drew protests from some in the Muslim world and enraged the insurgents, who regrouped and launch an insurgency campaign against the Ethiopians.

The Ethiopian soldiers withdrew in January but residents, insurgents and humanitarian organizations have reported several incursions in the past few months.

[BP2]

LOL ... Ethiopia invading Somalia ... well, other than the fact it is reminiscent of Bum Fights...

This may be the beginning of the latest war in Africa. Ethiopia borders Kenya, too.

Wouldn't it be interesting if a former Kenyan citizen, now the (acting) US president, were to send US military troops to Kenya?

It seems like a potential conflict of interest that many of the Framers were concerned about, addressed in the US Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 5).

[cripplecreek]

The Ethiopians have seen what islam can do and haven’t been real tolerant of it. They did this last year and finally backed off when the UN started screaming bloody murder. Hopefully they’ll tell the UN to go to hell this time.

[FourPeas]

BUMP

[piytar]

Sadly, this will probably follow the democrat socialist and MSM playbook. Expect the MSM to gin up stories about Ethiopian attrocities while ignore ones by the islamiacs. After all, the Ethiopians are largely Christian and therefore evil. That will give zero cover to bomb Ethiopia (further) into the stone age in support of the islamiacs. Cf Kosovo...

[rawhide]

Looking at the map, it looks like it would be to Ethiopia's advantage to cut Somalia in half and annex the northern half of Somalia into their country, gaining access to the sea.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Don't forget about Sudan, which borders Kenya as well. The international criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan. How long until BO send US troops to enforce the UN’s warrant?