Ethiopian Troops Enter Somalia To Threats of ‘Jihad’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Hundreds of Ethiopian troops in armored vehicles rolled into Somalia yesterday to protect their allies in this country’s virtually powerless government from Islamic militants who control the capital.
The move could give the American-backed Somali government its only chance of curbing the Islamic militia’s increasing power. But Ethiopia’s incursion could also be just the provocation the militia needs to build public support for a guerrilla war.
“We will declare jihad if the Ethiopian government refuses to withdraw their troops from Somalia,” a top Islamic official, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, told the Associated Press.
The neighboring countries are traditional enemies, although President Ahmed of Somalia has asked Ethiopia for its support.
