Ahmad 
Somalia’s representative to the United Nations, Abu Bakr Dahir Osman, accused the Ethiopian forces of “carrying out illegal incursions across the common border between the two countries, which led to confrontations with the Somali security forces.”
Osman said, “The recent action taken by Ethiopia forced his country to postpone the withdrawal of the African Union Mission in Somalia forces from next July to next September.”
About 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers are stationed in Somalia, a country located in the Horn of Africa, as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, “Atmis,” which is fighting the Al-Shabaab rebel movement.
There are also between 5 and 7 thousand additional Ethiopian soldiers in a number of Somali regions under a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
In turn, Reuters reported, citing a number of local leaders, that “a group of Ethiopian soldiers crossed the border into the Somali region of Hiran on Saturday to assess the threats of Al-Shabaab and withdrew on Sunday,” according to their words.
However, the Ethiopian Army Command and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not commented on what local leaders have revealed so far.
In a related context, the Somali National Army announced the elimination of 7 members of what it called “Kharijite militias” in Galgaduud Governorate.
The Somali news agency “Sona” quoted the commander of the “Khalid bin Al-Walid” battalion, Colonel Muhammad Tajuini, as saying that “7 terrorists were killed in a planned operation in cooperation with the popular resistance,” as he put it.
The military operation was carried out in the “Ali Atouli” area, 33 kilometers east of the city of “Ail Tair,” during which military equipment in the possession of the terrorists was seized.
He added, “The army received information that terrorist elements were holed up in the area, and as a result of that information, the forces moved to carry out the planned operation and destroy terrorist nests,” as he put it.
Somali forces repel Al-Shabaab attacks and suffer heavy losses