The Ethiopian army has began withdrawing its troops from Somalia’s capital after a two-year military occupation, but the violence that triggered the invasion continues, Radio Garowe reports.More than 20 military trucks, including transport and armored vehicles, left bases in Mogadishu and headed southwards to the town of Afgoye, in neighboring Lower Shabelle region.Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopia’s prime minister, told the Reuters news agency that the Ethiopian army’s withdrawal from Somalia as entered the “implementation phase.”

Ethiopia had previously announced plans to withdraw its troops from Somalia, citing international negligence and a peace pact between the Somali interim government and an Islamist-led opposition faction.

Civilian deaths

At least 11 people, including two Ethiopian soldiers, were killed after a Mogadishu roadside bomb and the subsequent gunfire, witnesses said.

Four people – two Ethiopian soldiers and two civilians – died in the initial explosion, which was followed by a barrage of gunfire.

“The Ethiopians [soldiers] started killing people indiscriminately,” said witness Omar Moallim, a local businessman.

Somali police official Col. Ali Hassan confirmed to Radio Garowe that the deadly explosion targeted Ethiopian troops, but “killed many civilians.”

Ethiopian troops have been accused of committing war crimes in Somalia, where they have killed civilians as retaliation for the insurgents’ deadly attacks.

Assassinations
Four people were killed in separate incidents in Mogadishu and Baidoa, the Somali government’s two remaining strongholds in the southern regions.

An individual identified as Abdullahi Ali Egal was shot and killed in Baidoa overnight Thursday, local officials said.

Mr. Egal was a member of the national reconciliation committee that organized the National Reconciliation Conference, held in Mogadishu in July 2007.

Separately, a member of Mogadishu’s local government was killed by two young men armed with pistols inside a tea shop in the capital, witnesses said.

In yet another assassination, a Somali prison official was gunned down in broad daylight in Mogadishu. Witnesses said the killers took the victim’s personal gun with them.Sheikh Mohamed Elbur, a local religious personality, was killed by unidentified gunmen in the outskirts of Mogadishu on Friday night.

Much speculation followed the sheikh’s killing, but Sheikh Abdirahman Abu-Qadi, spokesman for Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamee’a, a Sufi group, blamed the killing on Al Shabaab insurgents.Ethiopia’s military intervention in Somalia in 2006 has largely failed to stem widespread violence, kidnappings and piracy.

More than 300 Ethiopian troops arrived in Darfur over the last two days to boost the strength of the joint United Nations-African Union force, known as UNAMID, deployed earlier this year in an attempt to suppress the violence and humanitarian suffering in the war-torn Sudanese region.More personnel from the Ethiopian Infantry Battalion are expected to land in El Geneina, West Darfur by the end of the week.Their principal duties will include conducting security patrols, enhancing security and fostering confidence within the local population, as well as conducting escorts for humanitarian convoys.

The Security Council authorized a UNAMID force of about 26,000 uniformed personnel, including just below 20,000 troops last year. It currently only has around 10,000 personnel, and senior UN officials have repeatedly called on countries to supply the remaining troops and equipment that are needed.

Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia has become the first man under the sun to run under two hours and four minutes on Sunday. He breaks his own world record of 2:04:26 he set in Berlin, Germany 12 months ago. The sprinter clocked two hours three minutes 59 seconds in his new record.The 35-year-old was inside the required pace from the start and at the halfway stage was already 25 seconds faster than his split time last year, the Reuters news agency said. The respected runner backed out of the Beijing Olympics last month due to pollution concerns.He beat his final challenger, James Kwambai with around six kilometres left and his victory was never in doubt. The report said “Gebrselassie’s preparation for the event was affected by a calf muscle cramp but he said the perfect weather conditions and the support of the crowd helped him make light of the problem.””Everything was perfect,” Gebrselassie, a twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion, told German TV after crossing the line on a sunny but cool Berlin morning. “The weather was perfect, the race was perfect and the crowd was perfect.”"I felt like I was running in a stadium,” he added at a later news conference. “The supporters were so good they helped me feel all the time like I was starting afresh. “And really, this was once-in-a-lifetime weather. You must remember that.”Kwambai was second in 2:05:36, with fellow Kenyan Charles Kamathi third in 2:07:48. Irina Mikitenko of Germany won the women’s race in 2:19:19.