by Ali Musa Abdi
Thu Jul 20, 12:21 PM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Ethiopian troops have entered the Somali town of Baidoa, seat of the country's weak transitional government, to protect it from a feared advance from Islamist militia, witnesses have said.
The Islamists had advanced Tuesday evening to the nearby town of Buurhakana, sparking government accusations they wanted to attack Baidoa, but they withdrew on Thursday, denying any plan to strike the town.
The witness accounts of an Ethiopian incursion were denied by both Addis Ababa and Somalia's largely powerless interim government. But residents insisted that uniformed Ethiopian troops had driven in with military vehicles.
"We have seen Ethiopian soldiers in a convoy of more than 100 trucks," said Baidoa resident Shukri Abdirahman, adding that some of the vehicles had passed through the town to other locations.
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