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Ethiopian troops arrive in Mahas town, Hiran region, as tension looms
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Sunday April 01, 2012 - 19:17:16 in Latest News by Super Admin
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Hundreds of Ethiopian troops and tankers have rolled into central Somali town of Mahas following a deadly clash between Al-Shabaab militants and Ahlu Sunna militias earlier on Sunday morning, locals say.
Eyewitnesses told Bar-kulan that heavily armed Ethiopian troops entered the town hours after a bitter gun-battle erupted in the town and set up bases south of the town. Ethiopian troops were reportedly seen conducting search operations in areas near their bases.
The troops entered the town to reinforce Ahlu Sunna militias who were under attacks from armed Al-Shabaab militants who raided the town Sunday at dawn.
ASWJ officials claimed having upper hand over Al-Shabaab, saying that their militias inflicted heavy casualties on Al-Shabaab militants who raided their bases in the area.
Heavily armed militant fighters stormed the town early in the morning in bid to take full control of it but were later repelled, according to ASWJ’s executive committee deputy chairman Adan Abdulle Awale.
Ahlu Sunna commander in Mahas, Mumin Mohamed Halane told Bar-kulan that they killed 16 militant fighters and destroyed two rebel-owned battlewagons during the battle for Mahas.
The pro-TFG group says its militias are now heading towards an area called Moqokori, some 40 km south of Mahas town where Al-Shabaab militants are reportedly trooping up.
Al-Shabaab militants last Friday launched attacks on Ahlu Sunna bases in the town, five days after pulling out of the town, prompting a full scale confrontation.
Al-Shabaab briefly took over the town early in the morning only to be ousted again, but Ahlu Sunna denied that rebel fighters overpowered them in the first place, saying that it was a tactical retreat.
Al-Shabaab militias fled Mahas town a week ago after Ahlu Sunna militias backed by the allied Ethiopian troops arrived at Gobo village, 15 km northeast of Mahas town.
The Al-Qaeda linked militants have been losing grounds to the allied forces in both central and south-west Somalia since Ethiopian troops crossed again into the border last November.
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Ethiopian troops arrive in Mahas town, Hiran region, as tension looms
Hundreds of Ethiopian troops and tankers have rolled into central Somali town of Mahas following a deadly clash between Al-Shabaab militants and Ahlu Sunna militias earlier on Sunday morning, locals say.