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By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
December 31, 2011 9:49 AM EST
Ethiopian troops captured a rebel-held town in central Somalia on Saturday, Addis Ababa and residents said, in a new front against the al Qaeda-linked militants who are seen as a threat to the region's stability.
The al Shabaab rebels said on Saturday they had repelled three Ethiopian assaults north of the town and then carried out a "planned withdrawal" from the settlement.
Both Ethiopia and Kenya have sent troops into Somalia to fight Islamist al Shabaab militants, following a wave of cross-border attacks and kidnappings Nairobi blamed on the rebels.
The reports suggested the militants were now facing opposition on three fronts.
Al Shabaab is fighting Kenyan troops in the south. African Union peacekeepers and Somali government soldiers have pushed the militants out of most of the capital Mogadishu. The Ethiopian assault marked a new push in central Somalia.
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"Ethiopian troops are now in Baladwayne town. Al Shabaab fighters have run away," resident Osman Farah told Reuters.
"We were woken up by the shells of Ethiopian troops early in the morning. They attacked al Shabaab on the outskirts of the town. We cannot leave our houses. We can see Ethiopian troops from the cracks of our windows," he said.
Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon said Ethiopian and Somali government forces had captured the town.
"Enemy troops were routed during the operation and have retreated. We only had minimal losses," Bereket said.
Baladwayne is a commercial and farming town that lies near a river in central Somalia, about 45 km away (28 miles) from the Ethiopian border and 335 km north of Mogadishu.
It is also the capital of the Hiiran region and was under the control of al Shabaab, which is fighting Somalia's Western-backed government. Residents fear the militants could retake the town if Ethiopian troops leave.
SHABAAB SAYS REPELS ATTACK
Somalia has been mired in anarchy since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Rebel spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters earlier on Saturday Ethiopian troops had attacked al Shabaab fighters 20 km north of Baladwayne. He said al Shabaab had repelled the soldiers three times.
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