A large blast ripped through an Ethiopian military convoy in the Hiiraan province of central Somalia.
Local contacts confirmed the blast occurred mid afternoon outside the city of Beledweyne, while the Ethiopian troops where on routine patrol.
The ENDF marked convoy was completely engulfed in flames as a result of the blast, with thick smoke spotted billowing over the skies just moments after the blast.
Following the blast, more Ethiopian troops arrived on the scene and cordoned off the area, than began moving there dead and wounded comrades.
Afterwards, eyewitnesses that spoke with Halgan Media on condition of anonymity confirm that Ethiopian troops began indiscriminately rounding up and detaining dozens of rural pastoralists in the vicinity of the blast site, who where than whisked off to an undisclosed location.
The current whereabouts and well being of these rural pastoralists numbering in the dozens remains unknown at the moment. The occupying Ethiopian troops routinely target civilians when they come under attack from insurgents in Somalia and as a result extrajudicial killings, civilian massacres and disappearances are common place in many parts of Somalia with an ENDF presence.
The Ethiopian government maintains a large scale troop presence in neighboring Somalia with around 20,000 troops in the country. This includes AU and non AU forces, spread out across southern and central Somalia.
Ethiopia’s military occupation of Somalia is fully sponsored and backed by policy makers in the west, with Ethiopia being America’s key ally in the region when it comes to America’s global war on terror that is being waged in Somalia.
As a result, the Ethiopian regime is able to soak in billions of dollars in aid on an annual basis as a result of doing America’s bidding in neighboring Somalia and more-so puts Ethiopia in a position where it can use military means to occupy its historical enemy (Somalia) with the full blessings of Washington.
Halgan Media.
