Reuters
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Here are key facts about the tense interplay of relations in the Horn of Africa, where Somalia has long been a battleground for various players' interests -- particularly Ethiopia's:
-- Ethiopia and Somalia have been rivals throughout history, and memories of the 1977-78 Ogaden war between the two are still fresh. Fought against a backdrop of shifting Cold War alliances, Ethiopia's army crushed Somali troops who tried to lay claim to the Ogaden region with the vision of recapturing ethnically Somali territories outside Somalia. Ethiopia had seized the Ogaden in the early 1900s in what Somalis viewed as a colonialist expansion by a Christian empire.
-- Ethiopia has not hesitated to send troops into Somalia to attack radical Somali Islamic movements, wary they could stir up trouble in the ethnically Somali regions on its side of the border. Since the Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC) took power in June after kicking U.S.- and Ethiopian-backed warlords out of Mogadishu, Addis Ababa has warned it would crush any Islamist attack.
-- In a way, the current fight is a repeat of history with the same players involved. Several times from 1992 to 1998, Ethiopian soldiers attacked al-Itihaad al-Islaami, a militant Somali group the United States has put on a list of organizations linked to terrorism. SICC leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys led its military wing at that time. Current interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, then a warlord with Ethiopian money behind him, led his militias against al-Itihaad in that period.
-- A report to the United Nations on arms embargo violations says Eritrea has given weapons and training and sent about 2,000 troops to back the SICC to frustrate the Ethiopian-allied interim government. Eritrea denies the charge, though makes no secret of its hatred of Ethiopia over their still-unresolved border dispute, which led to a 1998-2000 war.
-- Military experts estimate Ethiopia has 15,000-20,000 troops inside Somalia. Addis Ababa says it only has a few hundred military trainers there.
-- Nonetheless, witness reports for months have placed Ethiopian combat units inside Somalia and say they are taking part in the current battles. They have reported an Ethiopian military helicopter flying over Baidoa and also have spotted tanks rolling toward the front on Friday. A government security source told Reuters the Ethiopians have 20 T-55 tanks and four attack helicopters in Baidoa, and have improved the airfield there to accommodate military operations.
Source: Reuters, Dec 24, 2006