Ethiopian Forces Kill 85 Al-Shabaab Militants Near Somalia

By Staff, Agencies

Regional forces in southeast Ethiopia killed 85 al-Shabaab militiamen during border clashes on Monday, the state broadcaster and a military commander said, days after the insurgents staged rare raids in the area.

The fighting adds to the security headaches for Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

According to broadcaster ETV, forces from Ethiopia’s Somali region killed dozens of members of al-Shabaab – Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia – and wounded and captured more in the Ferfer district near the border with its east African neighbor.

A commander with Somali regional forces, on the condition of anonymity, said 85 al-Shabaab fighters were killed.

He noted that his forces killed over 240 al-Shabaab militants in total since the extremist group raided two villages last week, and that 22 of his own troops died in the fighting.

Al-Shabaab controls large swathes of Somalia and has killed tens of thousands of people in bombings in their fight to overthrow Mogadishu’s Western-backed government and implement its wrong interpretation of Islam.

Attacks by the group in areas near the Ethiopia-Somalia border are rare because of a strong Ethiopian security presence. Ethiopia has federal troops in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force.