Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

Somalia: Ethiopian Troops Disarm Government Soldiers

By Ahmednor Mohamed Farah, 1 January 2009

Mogadishu — The Ethiopian troops have disarmed some government soldiers in Mogadishu, witnesses said on Thursday.

The move came after some government soldiers started to defect from their bases and surrendered to the Islamist insurgents.

Residents said government soldiers handed over their weapons to the Somali, Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu.

Sources say the Ethiopian troops ordered government soldiers based in Florenza area, in Mogadishu, to hand over their weapons to the Ethiopian soldiers and now the Ethiopian troops moved to the base.

Somali government soldiers have been surrendering to the Islamists since Somali president Abdulahi Yusuf resigned and the Ethiopian government announced plans to withdraw its troops from Somalia.

Tagged: Arms and Armies, Conflict, Conflict, East Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia

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Comments 1 to 1 of 1 Post a comment

  • A. A. Gulleid
    Jan 2 2009, 03:23
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    We all saw this coming. Ethiopians wanted to make Somalia mess that Obama can not have a time to look no further to its own Human Rights and other dirty laundry.