Posted on 11/27/2011 6:14:22 PM PST by Pan_Yan
(Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents.
Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period.
An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had previously denied scores of military trucks and armoured vehicles had entered Somalia on November 19 and 20.
Sunday, residents from towns in central Somalia said they had seen new, larger convoys.
"We have seen heavily armed Ethiopian troops with tanks heading to Guriel and Baladwayne. There are many more of them and (they are) more armed than last week," Ahmed Muhudin Ugas told Reuters from Balanbal town.
"Since yesterday afternoon I counted over 100 armed trucks with tanks; their convoy has not stopped yet."
A senior official with the pro-Mogadishu Sufi militia group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca also confirmed the deployment.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
I few $mil by shipping insurers to Ethiopia to clean out pirate bases would seem money well spent.
Shippers should be paying the Ethiopians for it.
Personally I would be fine with Ethiopia seizing the whole damn place and keeping it for themselves.
I wonder if Longshanks could figure out the root of Somalia’s problems?
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