Grenades kill five in Somalia's seat of parliament

BAIDOA, Somalia, Nov 27 (Reuters) - At least five people were killed and 17 injured on Thursday when assailants tossed grenades into a busy market in the town where Somalia's parliament sits, witnesses said. Islamist fighters have waged a nearly two-year campaign against Somalia's interim administration after government forces backed by Ethiopian troops ousted them from the capital. Islamists now hold most of south Somalia while the weak, Western-backed government controls just Mogadishu and Baidoa, the seat of parliament.
"At least three civilians died and 17 others were wounded after unidentified men hurled two hand grenades at Baidoa market," Hussein Mohamed, a witness, told Reuters.
A doctor at a hospital in Baidoa said two of the injured people taken there had later died.
The violence has killed 10,000 civilians since early 2007, created more than a million internal refugees, and left more than three million Somalis in need of food aid. Authorities in the northern enclave of Somaliland state of somalia on Thursday blamed a hardline group of Islamists known as al Shabaab for simultaneous suicide attacks that killed at least 30 people at the end of October. more...http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LR197065.htm


Ethiopia to Withdraw Troops From Somalia by Year End


Ethiopia has announced its intention to withdraw its troops from neighboring Somalia by the end of this year. But as correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian officials have assured the African Union their forces will remain on alert at the border to support the remaining AU peacekeepers if necessary.

Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu, (file photo)

Ethiopia has sent a letter to the United Nations and the African Union saying it will withdraw its forces from positions inside Somalia by the end of December. African and western diplomats confirmed to VOA the letter was delivered several days ago.. more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-27-voa40.cfm

Somaliland state of somalia Blames Oct Suicide Attacks On Shebab Group
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20081127%5CACQDJON200811270745DOWJONESDJONLINE000566.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&mypage=newsheadlines&title=UPDATE:%20Somaliland%20Blames%20Oct%20Suicide%20Attacks%20On%20Shebab%20Group

Commentaries\Opinions and analysis

NOBODY IS WATCHING

America's hidden war in Somalia
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-shadow_war2nov24,0,4720127.story?page=2

War Is Boring: Good News, Bad News in Somali
Islamists' Return
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=2971