Thursday, December 07, 2006
Both sides reported the overnight clashes in the Islamist-held central Somali town of Bandiradley, where the Islamists exchanged artillery shells with fighters from the Puntland region, backed by Ethiopian forces.
"We lost one soldier and they also suffered casualties but I don’t know how many," Puntland commander Hussein Agaf said.
"We clashed with the Ethiopian forces and their Puntland stooges. It was brief clash, but we suffered no casualties," said Mohamed Jumale Agoweyne, the Islamists’ commander in Bandiradley.
The township, about 630 kilometres north of Mogadishu, has been the scene of clashes between the rival forces in recent weeks, with the Islamists seeking to expand their control further north.
The latest fighting occurred as the United Nations (UN) Security Council approved the deployment of regional peacekeepers to help the weak Somalia government, despite vehement opposition from the Islamists.
As the government called for the immediate deployment of about 8,000 troops from the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the Islamic movement said the UN move would widen the conflict in Somalia.
Mainly Christian Ethiopia, with a large and potentially restive Muslim minority, is wary of the rise on its border of the Islamists, some of who are accused of links with Al-Qaeda terror network.
Diplomats have warned of a regional conflict, which would suck in Addis Ababa’s rival Eritrea, if an all-out war erupts in Somalia.
The Islamists took Mogadishu in June and now control most of southern and central Somalia while the government is confined to its seat of Baidoa, the only town it controls.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
Source: AFP, Dec 07, 2006