allAfrica.com * Ethiopian Troops Pull Out Focal Army Base in Central Part of Country - Residents Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu) NEWS 13 June 2008 Posted to the web 13 June 2008 The Ethiopian troops based in the areas on Jawil and Kalabeyrka of Hiran region central Somalia have withdrawn there to the inside Ethiopia following armed Alshabab fighters attacked town in Ethiopia on Wednesday residents said. Some residents told Shabelle that they could see armed covered Ethiopian vehicles on boarded by hundreds of soldiers pulled out towards Ferfer town in Ethiopia where mortars attack carried out by Alshabab fighters happened on Wednesday morning. Some reports say that the Ethiopian troops want to attack the islamists attacked in Ethiopia town those began new wave of attacks in Ethiopia. Some eyewitnesses told Shabelle that the Ethiopian troops have forcibly driven on three civilian truck vehicles were using a toll road near the army bases they vacated those were loaded on the ethiopian troop's belongings. Some rumors from inside Ethiopia as well say that the withdrawal drive of Ethiopian troops is to maintain the security of Ferfer town in Ethiopia where Alshabab fighters attacked. Elsewhere reports from Ferfer town say that heavily armed Ethiopian troops moved out from Ethiopian towns of Qalafe,Godey and Mustahil have packed out in Ferfer town. The Ethiopian troops pulled out from central Somalia have earlier been came under attacks from islamist groups against their presence in Somalia and the politics of Somali government. This comes following Alshabab fighters attacked two Ethiopian troop's army bases in ferfer that lies in Somali region in Ethiopia and expelled the Ethiopian soldiers reportedly. More than one hour lasted fighting rocked in the town overnight. Islamists spokesman Abdi Rahin Isse Addow has declared that one fighter wounded in the attack on their side but no comments could be reached from Ethiopia government on that incident. For bad telecommunication no further details could be available. This region lies in northeastern Ethiopia, bordering on Somalia and Kenya. It is an arid region, inhabited by Somali pastoral nomads. Upon the scramble and partition of Africa in 1884 by the Europeans, the region remained given to Menelik II of Ethiopia during 1891-97, but the territory was totally engulfed in 1954. Apart from drought, the Somali region also suffers interclan conflicts. Last month local officials told Shabelle that 11 food aid trucks had been burnt in the Gashamo area over two months. They blamed the incidents on rivalry between the Isaq and Ogaden clans. The region has been in wars, cyclic droughts and total devastation since then, but mostly since 1960 up to now and State policies met with varying levels of resistance. The people of the region were not allowed for self-determination by Ethiopia government, but rather subjected to longstanding hidden-sufferings and abuses by ruthless successive Ethiopian governments but armed groups hail from the region are continuing colossal resistances against Ethiopia government . The region covers much of the traditional territory of Ogaden and it formed a large part of the pre-1995 province of Hararghe. The region has a very high Somali population, and in the past has been claimed by Somalia as part of a Greater Somalia. In the 1970s, Somalia invaded Ethiopia in support of local Somali rebels, particularly during the Ogaden War, but was defeated. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2008 Shabelle Media Network. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quantcast