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'500 Islamist fighters killed'

by nukegingrich | December 25, 2006 at 11:24 pm | 244 views | add comment

With news that Ethiopian jets have bombed Somali airports to prevent Islamists from receiving reinforcements and re-supplies, the global war on terror has opened a new hot front. Ethiopian forces are supporting the Somali government against Islamists supported by arab factions.

Addis Ababa - Somali pro-government forces have killed 500 Islamist troops, most of them Eritreans, in two days of heavy fighting, Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia said on Sunday.

There was no independent confirmation of the death toll. Aid agencies say dozens of people have been killed.

Ambassador Abdikarin Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa the Islamists have killed 10 government soldiers and wounded 13, adding that 280 enemy fighters were taken prisoner - some of them from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan.