More than a dozen Ethiopian military trucks crossed the border into Somalia May 20, setting up a checkpoint at Kalabeyrka, according to the governor of Hiran region, Sheik Abdirahman Ibrahim Macow. Ethiopian forces, which had withdrawn from Somalia in January, returned days after an Islamist militia took over three towns, expanding its control over a large part of the country. (NYT [2], May 19)
Meanwhile, a battle is raging in Mogadishu as Islamist insurgents launch an all-out offensive to recapture portions of the capital city. Forces loyal to the transitional government lost control of about one-third of the capital to insurgents last week. Ten days of fierce clashes between the pro-government forces and Islamist militias al-Shabab and Hisbul-Islam have left more than 100 people dead and displaced 34,000 civilians. (UPI [3], May 22)
See our last post on Somalia [4].
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