Hundreds of Ethiopian troops have re-entered parts of central Somalia, APA learned from residents on Saturday.
Residents in the town of Balanballe in the central region of Galgadud say that many Ethiopian soldiers and at least nine military vehicles have entered the town where they have made a house-to house search in some parts of the city, although no arrests have yet been confirmed.
“The Ethiopian soldiers have searched many houses in the city but I have no information of any arrests,” Hajji Mohamed Ahmed, an elder in the city told APA by telephone on Saturday.
“The Ethiopian soldiers had sometimes in the past arrived here and held meetings with elders and business people but there were no such meetings with us today and we don’t know the motive of their arrival” the elder told APA.
Meanwhile, residents in the Kalabayr village near the borer with Ethiopia also say that hundreds of heavily armed Ethiopian soldiers have crossed the border and set up bases in the village which is about 25 kilometers north-west of Beledweyn, the provincial capital of the central Hiiraan region.
Ethiopia had sent thousands of its forces to Somalia late in 2006 to drive away the Somali Islamic Courts Union who then occupied most of Somalia in the second half of that year.
In mid-January this year, Ethiopia pulled its troops out of Somalia which marked the end of a two-year-long occupation of the country.
Source African Press Agency
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