12/05/08 (B447) Press TV Une bombe en Somalie tue 20 soldats éthiopiens et somaliens – 20 killed in Somali bomb blasts (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Somali bomb blasts killed 20 Ethiopian and Somali soldiers

Landmine explosions have killed more than 12 Ethiopian troops, and eight Somali government soldiers, in the war-torn East African nation.

Anti Ethiopian groups detonated a massive landmine in Towfiikh district, killing at least eight soldiers, and destroying their vehicle, Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported on Monday.

Elsewhere, at least four Ethiopian soldiers were killed and more than 10 others injured in southern Mogadishu when their vehicles hit land mines near a military base.

In another incident on Monday, at least six Somali government troops were killed as their vehicle exploded by a land mine, near the Adan Adde International airport in Mogadishu. More than two other Somali soldiers were also killed in attacks in Mogadishu’s Buulo Hubey.

Meanwhile, police forces have arrested at least 25 civilians for unknown reasons in Baidoa.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Years of fierce clashes between fighters and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands people.