23 killed in Somali fighting
2008-05-08 14:00
Mogadishu - Heavy fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamist insurgents in central Somalia left at least 23 people dead, witnesses and officials said on Thursday.
The fighting broke out late on Wednesday near the village of Garsani, about 300km north of Mogadishu, when insurgents ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy.
Several witnesses said at least 13 civilians and eight Ethiopian soldiers had been killed in the fighting, while the insurgents admitted to losing two fighters in the battle.
"The fighting was so heavy and our holy warriors with the help of Allah won a huge victory," said Sheikh Abdirahin Ise, an Islamist spokesperson.
"In return they (Ethiopians) killed pastoralists who were near the fighting zone," he added.
"I have counted bodies of 13 civilians, including four children," said Ibrahim Adan Moalim, a local resident.
The Islamists promised to avenge the killing of Hashi Aden Ayro - a senior Islamist leader accused of being al-Qaeda's pointman in Somalia - in a US airstrike last week.
Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in late 2006 to rescue an embattled transitional government and defeated an Islamist militia which had taken control of large parts of Somalia.
The remnants of the militia have since waged a deadly guerrilla battle against government forces, its Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers, mainly in Mogadishu.