afrol News, 4 June - Ethiopian Authorities have at last admitted having military presence in Somalia contradicting their earlier rejections of reports that it has redeployed its troops back to the Horn of Africa state.

Two weeks ago, Ethiopia which withdrew all its troops from Somalia in January this year, after backing the Somalia Transitional government to oust the hard-line Islamist rebels, said the reports of its army presence were untrue, further stating that it has no intention to invade the Somali territories.

Information Minister Bereket Simon told reporters in Addis Ababa today that the country has no plans to go back to Somalia, but said there are inspection mission by the Ethiopian troops and Somalia.

Somalis near the central town of Baladwayne have reported that Ethiopian troops had landed in the town when clashes between government and rebels intensified in the country’s capital Mogadishu.

Last month the clashes between Allied fighters of Al-Shabaab and Hezbul Islam and the Somali government led to the capture of a number of key positions in Mogadishu and two main central Somalia towns from government forces, raising fears the government could collapse.

The clashes have also killed more than 130 people displacing over 30, 000 people in Mogadishu and the surounding areas.

Ethiopian troops withdrew last January, having entered into Somalia in late 2006 to assist the former Somali government to topple an Islamist movement that had ruled much of the south and central part of the country.

The Horn of Africa nation has been marred by constant civil conflict dating as far back as in the early 1990’s. It is estimated that more than 16,000 civilians have been killed by fighting since the start of 2007, with thousands more displaced.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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