Ethiopian planes bomb Somali areas - witnesses

[maddezmom]

By Hassan Yare
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Ethiopian planes dropped bombs and fired missiles on two locations in Somalia on Sunday, witnesses said, as fighting between Somali Islamists and their Ethiopian-allied rivals raged for a sixth day.

There was no immediate word from Ethiopia, the Somali interim government or the Islamists.

Resident Abdirashid Hassan said he saw planes drop bombs on the outskirts of Baladwayne, 190 miles (300 km) from the capital Mogadishu. "The Ethiopians have started bombing," he said by telephone.

Another witness, businessman Farah Osman, said two Ethiopian planes fired missiles on the outskirts of Bandiradley, 435 miles (700 km) north of Mogadishu.

If confirmed, the use of foreign attack aircraft would raise the stakes in the most sustained combat yet between the Ethiopia-backed interim government and Islamists.

more:http://www.hemelhempsteadtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1944873§ionid=5055

[oberliner]

1. More Info from AP: Ethiopia launches airstrikes in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopian fighter jets bombarded the Somali town of Belet Weyne on Sunday, witnesses said, a sharp escalation in violence that is threatening to engulf the volatile Horn of Africa.

The airstrikes on the town, which is controlled by Somalia's Islamic militia that is battling Somalia's government, hit a strategic road and a recruiting center for the militants, resident Ayanle Husein Abdi told The Associated Press by telephone.

The Council of Islamic Courts has vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia's U.N.-backed government. Fighting was reported Sunday in Baidoa — the only town the government controls — and the Islamist strongholds of Belet Weyne and Bandiradley.

"The planes hit an Islamic center where the Islamic officials in the region have been enrolling volunteers who wanted to join the war," Abdi said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_re_af/somalia

[maddezmom]

2. more: Ethiopia confirms counterattack on Somali Islamists

MOGADISHU (AFP) - The Ethiopian government has said its troops have launched a counter attack against Islamist forces in Somalia as fighting in the lawless nation entered a fifth day.

"The Ethiopian defense forces have started attacking anti-Ethiopian forces which have been massed in Beledweyne, Bandiradley, Bur Hakaba and Dinsoor," the defence ministry in Addis Ababa said in a statement, referring to Islamist strongholds.

"Our defense forces is taking an offensive action on those forces in these areas. After tolerance for so many months, we have been forced to take these measures as our security and stability and sovereignty have been threatened," the statement said Sunday, in a first direct acknowledgement of fighting by Ethiopians.

"All those areas are near to our border," it added.

Information ministry spokesman Zemedkum Tekle said Addis Ababa took action after the Islamists shelled its territory, while a defence ministry statement reported "initial defensive measures against terrorist forces that attempted to infiltrate into Ethiopia..."

"The Islamists have already started shelling our territories," Zemedkum said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061224/wl_afp/somaliaunrestethiopia_12

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[DavidDvorkin]

4. I don't think America or Christianity is required

For Ethiopians and Somalis to fight each other.

[paulk]

6. here on DU it is

:sarcasm:

[Pavulon]

7. Russia

Like every other third world dump.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cal04]

8. Ethiopian jets bomb Mogadishu airport, one wounded

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed the main airport in Mogadishu on Monday, wounding one person in Somalia's capital where Islamists have their stronghold, an airport official said.

"The airport has been hit. A MiG jet dropped something," Abdirahim Adan, managing director of Mogadishu international airport, said by telephone. "We are still trying to assess the damage, but one person has been injured."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25223676.htm

Ethiopia Bombs Airport in Somali Capital, Witnesses Say
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Somalia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Eugene]

9. BBC: Ethiopia attacks (two) Somalia airports

Last Updated: Monday, 25 December 2006, 17:26 GMT

Ethiopia attacks Somalia airports

Ethiopian jets have bombed two airports in Somalia in a widening operation
against an Islamic militia group.

Jets hit the international airport in the capital, Mogadishu, and another
at Balidogle, in the south of the country.

-snip-

Two senior leaders of the UIC, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheikh Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed, landed at Mogadishu shortly after the Ethiopian air strike,
a clear sign that the attack did not disable the runway.

-snip-

The Ethiopian government said it hit the two airports to stop "unauthorised
flights", the AFP news agency reported.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6208549.stm