Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The attack was claimed by the Shebab movement and targeted the presidential palace in Baidoa, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu and home to the country's transitional parliament.
"Two soldiers were killed and seven others admitted to hospital after a mortar shell struck a tent where they were sleeping near the presidential palace," government security official Hussein Mohamed Moalim said.
"Mortar shells struck the palace area for about 45 minutes and I saw several wounded soldiers being retrieved this morning from the scene of the attack. Some of them died but I'm not sure how many," eyewitness Adan Ali told AFP.
In late 2006, Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of an embattled Somali transitional government and soon ousted Islamist forces which had briefly controled large parts of the country.
The Shebab military group has since waged a guerrilla war against government forces, Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers.
"Our young fighters carried out the attack and we vow that such attacks will be carried out in Baidoa until we root out the enemy of Allah and its stooges," Sheikh Mukhtar Robow told reporters Tuesday.
The claim came on the eve of the deadline for the implementation of a truce agreement initialed in Djibouti between the federal government and top leaders from the main Islamist-dominated opposition movement.
The deal reached on June 9 gave all sides a month to start enforcing a cessation of hostilities but it was promptly rejected by Islamist hardliners, who insist Ethiopian forces should withdraw before any talks start.
Source: AFP, July 08, 2008