Ethiopian forces are to be deployed to help retake a town in Somalia after insurgent group Al-Shabaab captured it on Friday. Leego, a strategic town linking the Somali capital, Mogadishu and the town of Baidoa was captured by Al-Shabaab after the African Union and Somali forces left. Military sources say newly arrived Ethiopian troops will be dispatched to Leego to retake from Al-Shabab and open the road to Mogadishu. In the wake of spreading anti-government protests last year, Ethiopia withdrew some of its forces from Somalia – ostensibly to beef up the security situation back home. Addis Ababa denied any connection but an Al-Shabaab leader stressed that as a reason – the insurgents almost immediately retook towns where these pullouts were made.

Source: Ethiopian News August 06, 2017 00:22 UTC