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Ethiopia launches air strikes

Mogadishu: Ethiopia launched an attack on Sunday on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, sending fighter jets across the border and bombarding several towns in a sharp escalation of the violence that threatens to engulf the volatile Horn of Africa.

``After too much patience, the Ethiopian Government has taken a self-defensive measure and has begun counterattacking the aggressive extremist forces of the [Islamic council] and foreign terrorist groups,'' said Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs spokesman Solomon Abebe.

It was the first time Ethiopia had acknowledged that its troops were fighting in Somalia, although witnesses had reported their presence for weeks. — AP

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