Ethiopian airstrikes hit terrorist-controlled border region in Somalia: Local media

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - A fighter plane believed to belong to the Ethiopian military on Saturday carried out an airstrike in a Somali border region reportedly controlled by terrorist group al-Shabaab, local media reported.

The airstrikes took place in the southwestern town of Garaswayne located on the outskirts of Hudur, capital of the Bakol region.

Adan Hassan Adan, a local journalist in Hudur, told Anadolu Agency over the phone that the town was hit by at least four missiles and at least one woman was seriously wounded.

He said one missile hit near a mosque and another landed in an empty market.

Local media reported that an Ethiopian fighter plane carried out the airstrike but Ethiopia’s Liyu police, operating in Bakol, had no comment other than saying operations are taking place in the region.

The reported airstrike comes a day after heavy fighting between Liyu counterinsurgency forces in Ethiopia’s Somali region and al-Shabaab terrorists took place in the border town of Aato in Bakol, killing at least 10 people, according to local security officials.

Ethiopia’s news agency said during the fighting in Aato on Friday, senior al-Shabaab commanders, including its military operations spokesman Abdiasiis Abu Mus’ab, were killed.