Ethiopian Troops Postpone Leaving Somalia

Somali men rush a wounded man to hospital, a victim of a mortar attack on the Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. Mortars slammed into a market in Somalia's capital Monday, killing up to 30 people and overwhelming hospitals with dozens of wounded in the worst fighting in months, witnesses said. The fighting began after Islamic insurgents fired mortars at the capital's main airport and the presidential palace, said Ali Mohamed Siyad, who chairs Bakara market traders' association. Soon after, government forces and their Ethiopian allies retaliated with mortars and gunfire. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

From Press TV:

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi says that his country's troops will continue to stay in Somalia until their objectives are met.

The idea of withdrawing troops out of Somalia while its transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed counts on our support is totally unacceptable. Yusuf Ahmad is a friend of ours and we will not leave him alone, the Ethiopian premier told local journalists in Addis Ababa on Sunday.

Zanawi's remarks came as he had earlier vowed to pull Ethiopian's forces out of conflict-stricken Somalia at the very earliest.

It is also noteworthy that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and Al-Shabab fighters have gained control of roughly 95% of the Horn of Africa country.

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More News On Somalia/Ethiopia

Military can't guarantee safety off Somalia: US Navy -- Reuters
Somalia: International Chamber of Commerce Condemns Piracy in the Gulf of Aden -- All Africa
Mortars hit Mogadishu market, 42 dead -- Reuters
Mortar attack on Somali market kills up to 30 -- AP
At Least 29 Killed in Mogadishu Fighting -- Voice Of America
At least 29 civilians killed in Mogadishu bloodshed -- AFP
Somalia: midnight bombardments at Mogadishu international airport -- Somaliweyn
U.N. official sounds famine alarm in Horn of Africa -- Yahoo News/Reuters

My Comment: This is what a fail state looks like. Constant misery, war and violence, and hunger in the background.