Somalia: Ethiopian troops move to reinstate Jowhar

Published on Friday 11th April 2008

Somalia, Apr 11: Ethiopian army moves toward the capital town of Somalia's Shabeellaha Dhexe region to fight Islamic Courts Union (ICU) forces in the area.

The soldiers, numbering to thousands, headed for Jowhar some 90 km (55 miles) away from the turbulent Somali capital, Mogadishu.

ICU fighters seized the town on Wednesday, without facing any resistance. Upon arrival, the rebels freed prisoners and kept watch over government buildings from potential looters before retreating hours later.

Jowhar, the seat of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, went without a proper administration for a second day on Friday, and is awaiting a possible clash between the Ethiopian soldiers and the remaining insurgents anytime within the few next hours, Press TV report said.

Crowds of civilians, fearing their lives, started escaping from their homes in the town where the ICU fighters are said to have built strongholds.

On Thursday, Somali tribal leaders were calling for a crisis meeting to find a solution to end the humanitarian disaster in the African nation, urging the Ethiopian troops' dismissal from the country in order to save civilian lives.

Somalia's interim government has faced a bloody insurgency since its Ethiopian military allies ousted Islamic Courts leaders from Mogadishu in January 2007.

The government has since failed to rein in the rebels who frequently attack Somali soldiers and capture and release towns and villages around the country.