Ethiopian troops leave Somalia

Ethiopian minister says troops have completed their withdrawal from Somalia.

au forces in somalia
AU forces were the target of the latest attack by Somali opposition fighters [AP]

Al Shabab attacks

Ethiopia announced plans to withdraw its estimated 3,000 troops from Somalia last November, but only began their withdrawal early January.

At the request of the Somalia’s UN-backed government, Ethiopians were ordered to force opposition fighters out of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in 2006.

But the troops had faced several attacks by al-Shabab, the former military wing of the deposed Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that ruled Somalia before the Ethiopian-led invasion in 2007.

Al-Shabab and other opposition groups have since regained control of much of the territory they lost to the Ethiopia-backed Somali forces, with the government only present in Mogadishu and Baidoa.

Somali legislators are expected to elect a new president on Monday following the resignation last month of Abdullahi Yusuf as president.

Security concerns

The Ethiopia pull-out has sparked security concerns for the war-ravaged country, where African Union (AU) peacekeepers have also come under attack by fighters.

At least 22 civilians were killed in a suspected suicide car bomb attack aimed at the AU peacekeepers on Saturday.

The fighters missed their target and rammed into a bus, killing at least 17 people. Five others were killed during the clashes.

Meanwhile, the  US has been circulating a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a UN peacekeeping force in Somalia.

The draft would renew the mandate of AU peacekeepers currently in Somalia, but eventually replace them with a stronger international force.

The draft calls for a council decision by June 1.

Source: News Agencies