Fighting breaks out near Somali govt base

By Sahal Abdulle
MOGADISHU, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Heavy fighting broke out on Friday between Islamist fighters and Somali and Ethiopian soldiers protecting the interim government's base in Baidoa, killing at least two people, witnesses said. The witnesses said the clash lasted several hours in an area about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of Baidoa and at least two boys were killed. No official casualty figures were available. It was the latest in a series of skirmishes between the two sides in recent weeks which have fuelled fears of an all-out war that could draw in neighbouring countries.
A witness in Ramo Aday, where the fighting passed through after starting 3 km (1.5 miles) away at Safar Nooley, said Ethiopian and government troops rolled through there before the Islamists pushed them back toward Baidoa. "I saw two technicals and two trucks the Islamists captured from the government," Ibrahim Nur said. "Two herder boys were killed and several businessmen were badly hurt." The Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which controls much of southern Somalia and threatens the government's slim authority with its military superiority, accused Ethiopia of starting the battle. "Our troops managed to repel the Ethiopians. This attack has come immediately after the U.N. Security Council lifted the arms embargo on Somalia. This is a big mistake the U.N. has made," SICC spokesman Abdirahman Ali Mudey said.
The U.N. this week passed a U.S.-backed resolution to permit the deployment of foreign peacekeepers the government has asked for since 2004. That required a waiver of a widely flouted 1992 arms embargo. But the Islamists say any foreign troops would be invaders, ratcheting up concern the anarchic nation will plunge into full-scale conflict and draw in Horn of Africa rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea, which is an ally of the SICC.
'NOT IN SECRET'
Ethiopia denied the clash had taken place, while the Somali interim government could not immediately be reached for comment. "There have not been clashes. It is an attempt to mislead the international community. If the time comes when Ethiopian troops will engage the (SICC), it will not be in secret," a foreign ministry statement broadcast on state television on Friday said. The SICC has declared holy war on Ethiopia, which it says has soldiers in Somalia to prop up the shaky government. Another witness in Ramo Aday earlier told Reuters he could see fighting going on in Safar Noolay, along a front line the Islamists had set up to encircle roughly half of Baidoa -- the only town the government controls.
"I see huge smoke clouds and I am hearing artillery fire and small guns exchanging fire," Adan Isak Ali said by phone. A senior Islamist source said the SICC had plans to attack Baidoa, but refused to give a time or date. "Baidoa is not a target tonight or tomorrow but we will be going there," the Islamist, who declined to be named, said. A second Islamist source said a new contingent of fighters was headed to a key forward position just west of Baidoa, Buur Hakaba. A businessman in Baidoa, who sought anonymity, confirmed the government forces had been pushed back but were sending out reinforcements. "
It was about 80 percent government troops," he said when asked if Ethiopian soldiers were in the original fighting force. Ethiopia has consistently denied it has any soldiers, besides a few hundred military trainers, in Somalia. But security experts estimate there are between 5,000 and 10,000 inside Somalia, along with heavy weapons and armoured vehicles.
(Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed in Nairobi)

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