MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Ethiopian fighter jets bombarded the Somali town of Belet Weyne on Sunday, witnesses said, a sharp escalation in violence that is threatening to engulf the volatile Horn of Africa. The airstrikes on the town, which is controlled by Somalia's Islamic militia that is battling Somalia's government, hit a strategic road and a recruiting center for the militants, resident Ayanle Husein Abdi told The Associated Press by telephone.
The Council of Islamic Courts has vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia's U.N.-backed government. Fighting was reported Sunday in Baidoa—the only town the government controls—and the Islamist strongholds of Belet Weyne and Bandiradley.
"The planes hit an Islamic center where the Islamic officials in the region have been enrolling volunteers who wanted to join the war," Abdi said.
Another witness, Said Abukar Sahal, said the strikes were targeting the roads and defenses of the Islamic militia.
