Ethiopian soldiers were seen in Jawil area, near the common border between Ethiopia and Somalia, according to villagers.

The exact number of soldiers or trucks could not be independently verified, but residents said these troops crossed over from the Ethiopian side of the border.

Mohamed Ahmed, a truck driver who travels along the border region, told Garowe Online that the Ethiopian soldiers were conducting search operations in the area.

Hiran Governor Yusuf Daboged said his administration is "well aware" of the arrival of this fresh contingent, and added that the troops are in the region to "help the Somali government" secure the country.

About 1,000 Ethiopian soldiers are stationed in the outskirts of Beletwein, the capital of Hiran.

Last week, Ethiopian forces withdrew from parts of Galgadud region, after a six-month stay.

Residents in the Galgadud town of Guri El said the Ethiopian soldiers forcefully lived in private homes and a local hospital during their stay.

Osman Isse Nur, the deputy governor of Galgadud, dismissed media reports that Islamic Courts fighters had taken control of Guri El following the Ethiopian pullout.

Mr. Nur said armed men seen in the outskirts of Guri El are not part of the Islamic Courts but are "regional troops."

Somalia: Hundreds of Islamist militants advance on Baidoa

Jarail, 31 Dec. (AKI) - Several hundred Islamist militants belonging to the al-Qaeda linked 'Young Mujahadeen' group have gathered at a disused miliatary base 40 kilometres from the southern city of Baidoa, where Somalia's transitional government is based, pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reports, quoting unnamed government sources.

The 'Young Mujahadeen' are being led by the Islamic Courts movement's former miltary commander, Mukhtar Rabow, whose battlename is Abu Mansur.

The group's objective is to launch intermittent attacks against Baidoa. To fend off such attacks, the Somali authorities have deployed an 'extraordinary defence plan' for the city, al-Sharq al-Awsat said.

Islamist militants in recent days have taken the village of Jarail, in the central part of the country, and over the weekend waged fierce firefights with Ethiopian troops in the capital, Mogadishu.

The militants are reported to have launched rocket attacks against government offices and the stadium in Mogadishu, which has become the Ethiopian troops' base.

Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of the embattled Somali government a year ago and swiftly ousted the Islamic Courts, which had briefly controlled large areas of south and central Somalia.

Remnants of the fundamentalist movement have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, waging a deadly insurgency, mainly on the streets of Mogadishu.

Hundreds of people, mainly civilians, have died in clashes between Ethiopian-backed government forces and insurgents over the past six months. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been forced to flee Mogadishu, sparking what the United Nations has described as Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.

A contingent of 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers deployed by the African Union has failed to stabilise the capital.

There is a plan to deploy a hybrid AU-UN force of 8,000 peacekeepers in Somalia, which has had not had a functioning central government since 1991, when warlords ousted dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

Artillery fire kills 8 refugees in Somalia

NAIROBI, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were killed as insurgents launched an artillery attack at a refugee camp based in the Somali capital Mogadishu, reports reaching here said on Monday.

The victims, including five children and one pregnant woman, died when a mortar shell hit their refugee camp. The killings came as the religious insurgents bombed an Ethiopian military base in the capital, drawing a counterattack from the Ethiopian forces.

Also on Monday, the insurgents attacked a military base of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces in the southern part of the capital and exchanged fire with soldiers of Somalia's transitional government in the area.

No casualties were reported for the AU forces, according to a spokesman of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), but it was not clear whether the insurgents sustained any casualties.

The United Nations Security Council authorized earlier this year the deployment of an 8,000-strong African peacekeeping force in Somalia, which has been plagued by violence since late ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Thousands of Ethiopian troops have been deployed in Somalia after they crossed the border into Somalia a year ago to help the transitional government oust an Islamist movement that had been in control of much of southern and central Somalia.

Fighters of the group have since been waging guerrilla attacks on Ethiopian and Somali forces.

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