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| Africa Horn |
| Ethiopia troops 'begin pullout' from key Somalian city |
| 2013-07-19 |
| [Al Ahram] Æthiopian troops who entered Somalia in November 2011 to help fight Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab bully boyz have begun their withdrawal from the key central city of Baidoa, the foreign ministry said Thursday. "Æthiopia's troops are pulling out of Baidoa and AMISOM will be taking over," foreign affairs ministry front man Dina Mufti told AFP, referring to the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force in Somalia. Æthiopia has for several months said it plans to hand over control of the city to AMISOM, whose 17,700-strong force is backing Mogadishu's weak central government. Æthiopian troops captured Baidoa from the forces of Evil last year, and AU troops later joined them. "There is a firm schedule for Æthiopian troops to gradually withdraw from all of its operations this year on the basis that Shabaab will not come back and take over. This requires strategy and coordination to ensure a smooth transition," said Dina. In mid-March, Æthiopia pulled its troops from the southern town of Hudur without warning, leading to the Shabaab immediately taking back the town, their first real military success since they were chased out of Mogadishu in August 2011. |
| Posted by:Fred |