January 02, 2007

2 Ethiopian soldiers killed in southern Somalia

2 January 2007

JILIB, Somalia Jan 2 (Garowe Online) - An unknown Somali gunman attacked a temporary military base for Ethiopian forces in the southern Somali town of Jilib late Monday, killing at least 2 Ethiopian soldiers and wounded others, witnesses confirmed.

The surprise attack came only days after Ethiopian troops, backing Somali government forces, overwhelme Islamic Courts militia in the Jubba regions of southern Somalia.

The Somali gunman, who is suspected to be an Islamist fighter, returned for a second round of gunbattles with Ethiopian soldiers, and critically wounded an Ethiopian military officer at the Jilib base.

Ethiopian soldiers and their Somali allies chased the gunman through town, killing him but wounding at least 2 Somali civilian bystanders during the case, according to witnesses.

Other unconfirmed reports indicated that the civilians might've died from the gunshot wounds.

Government and allied Ethiopian forces in the region have imposed a curfew on Jilib town to investigate the deadly incident.

Somalia’s retreated Islamist movement had sworn to wage a guerrilla campaign against Ethiopian troops on Somali soil before their departure from the Somali capital Mogadishu last week.

The deadly attack comes on a day Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian leader, told his parliament that Ethiopian forces would stay in Somalia for another 2 to 3 weeks.

Garowe Online News

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