Ethiopian troops quit Somali area

PHOTO |AFP
Ethiopian troops patrolling at the entrance of an abandoned building in Baidoa.

MOGADISHU, Tuesday    

Reports from Galgadud region in Central Somalia, Ethiopian troops that had lately been helping Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, the moderate Islamic group, have started pulling out from some strategic positions. 

Last Sunday, Ethiopian troops abandoned Eel Bur, a strategic town and former stronghold of Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group vehemently challenging the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and its allies like Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea. 

Together with the Ethiopians, Ahlu Sunna militias left Eel Bur, about 320 km north of Mogadishu, which was re-occupied by Al-Shabaab militants within hours. The retreating forces reached Wabho, a settlement about 40 km north of Eel Bur town.  

The local people reported on Sunday that the arriving Al-Shabaab fanatics waged a terror campaign by capturing and subsequently beheading two youths accused of having collaborated with the allied Ethiopian-Ahlu Sunna forces. 

Further reports from the region indicated that the Ethiopian troops have also abandoned Wabho settlement on Monday.

The inhabitants have now started confirming that Al-Shabaab loyalists have entered Wabho settlement, generating anxiety among the largely rural population in the area as to what the change of control might bring. 

Neither the Ethiopians nor Ahlu Sunna officials have explained why they are jointly vacating positions that are surely being captured by Al-Shabaab militants. 

On Monday, Sheikh Omar Sheikh Abdulkadir, a senior Ahlu Sunna official, announced that his militants left Eel Bur town for tactical reasons. “We have plans to return and recapture it,” stated Sheikh Abdulkaadir, dismissing Al-Shabaab claim of superiority.

Nevertheless, the development has also made Ahlu Sunna officials nervous and started targeting reporters in the region that pass on information about the developments. 

According to reports from Dusamareb town, the capital of Galgadud region, several correspondents for local and international media were besieged by Ahlu Sunna officials on Tuesday morning.

So far, those taken from their homes for detention include the reporters for Mogadishu-based Dalsan and Nairobi-based Bar Kulan Radios. 

Mr Mohamed Abdi Mohamoud, the correspondent of Radiyo Muqdisho, a Mogadishu-based Somali government run broadcaster, stated that he fled his home in Dusamareb prior to being captured by Ahlu Sunna officers.
Meanwhile, the bodies of two youths with heads slashed away were displayed in Eel Bur town in Galgadud region in Central Somalia on Monday.

Fighters belonging to Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group fervently opposing the TFG, occupied the district, 320 km north-east of Mogadishu.

Town dwellers said that the killed youth were captured on Sunday by Al-Shabaab militants. They were killed, according to area inhabitants, on suspicion that they collaborated with the moderate Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea group over the past few months.