Gunmen shoot dead an Ethiopian soldier in southern Somalia

Gunmen shoot dead an Ethiopian soldier in southern Somalia

Aweys Osman Yusuf
Mogadishu 25, Jan.07 ( Sh.M.Network) Unknown gunmen have shot dead an Ethiopian soldier and wounded another at a shopping market in the port city of Kismayu, about 500 km (310 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu on Thursday.

Farhan Lfole, Shabelle correspondent in Kismayu, reported that government and Ethiopian troops in the area cordoned off the market, tracking down the unidentified assailants.

The attack that seemed a kind of a hit and run assault was the first one to take place in Kismayu since government and Ethiopian forces reached the port town late last month.

He said a number of civilians were soon arrested from the area where the incident occurred.

The ambush attack came as the Ethiopian troops began withdrawing from Somalia on Tuesday.

Ethiopian prime minister Males Zenawi said in a press conference in Addis Ababa that his troops in Somalia would not fully be withdrawn from war-torn country until the replacement African peacekeepers that are due to reach Somalia in two weeks arrive.
The premier pointed out in earlier speeches about Somalia that nearly 500 Ethiopian military troops were killed in Somalia’s war between the defunct Islamic Courts Union and the Ethiopian and government forces in the country.

The government was not available for comments over the killing.

Islamist caught

Meanwhile unconfirmed reports indicate the Ethiopian and government troops have seized the former Islamist leader for Jubba provinces, southern Somalia. The government soldiers caught the Islamist near the Kenyan border. He is under Ethiopian and government custody in Kismayu.

Sources told Shabelle that he was wounded in the war between Islamists and the Ethiopian and government troops.