LUUQ, Somalia Nov 17 (Garowe Online) - Ethiopian soldiers aboard military vehicles crossed into southwestern Somalia overnight Thursday with preliminary reports suggesting that they’re headed to Baidoa, the seat of the interim Somali government.
Residents reported seeing Ethiopian troops driving a convoy of 7 armored vehicles passing through Luuq, a frontier town in Gedo region.
Gedo borders Bay region, where a tense military standoff continues. While government and allied Ethiopian forces have dug up trenches in the outskirts of Baidoa, rival Islamist militia are encamped some 60 KM south in Buurhakaba, a Bay regional town on the main Baidoa-to-Mogadishu road.
The fresh arrival of more Ethiopian troops coincides with the release of a UN report detailing violations of the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia and placing Ethiopian troop numbers inside Somalia as high as 8,000.
Ethiopia backs the Baidoa-based interim government while its regional rival, Eritrea, supports the Mogadishu-based Islamist movement.
Analysts worry that the Somali conflict could transform into a regional war.
Garowe Online News
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