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"We will go to all border towns in our
country to deprive our enemy of a route to enter into our
country. Also we don't want the enemy inside Somalia to get an
exit route to flee from it when the jihad starts," Bilaal told
The Associated Press by telephone.
Somalia's transitional government, which
is backed by Ethiopia against the growing threat posed by the
Islamic movement, has sent about 700 troops to defend Tiyeglow,
said Mohamed Ali Gaboobe, a government militia commander.
The latest military buildup further
raises fears of intensified conflict in Somalia. The Council of
Islamic Courts, which controls the Islamic militiamen, already
has hundreds of combatants within striking distance of the
transitional government in southern and central Somalia.
Tiyeglow is about 90 miles northeast of
Baidoa, the only town the government controls. Tiyeglow, on the
potholed main road between the Ethiopian border and Baidoa, is
believed to be one of the towns through which Ethiopian troops
have entered Somalia and may be on their supply route.
Both the transitional government and
Ethiopia have consistently denied there are Ethiopian troops in
Somalia, with Ethiopia saying it only has a few hundred military
advisers helping the transitional government form a national
army.
A confidential U.N. report obtained by
the AP in October said that there are 2,000 soldiers from
Eritrea inside Somalia backing the Islamic movement, in addition
to 6,000-8,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia or along the border
backing the government. Eritrea denies having any troops in
Somalia.
A Somali human rights group said Sunday
it feared renewed fighting could lead to a repeat of past human
rights violations, such as rape, torture, kidnapping and
looting.
Somalia has not had an effective central
government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed
Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other.
A transitional government was formed two
years but it has been unable to assert its authority over the
country. Since June, the Council of Islamic Courts has seized
Mogadishu and taken control of much of southern Somalia.
The Associated Press
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11:00 GMT
