Somali insurgents assassinated a local official today and attacked Ethiopian troops overnight just hours after a second attempt to start a peace conference was postponed.
A Somali jihadist group calling itself the Young Mujahideen Movement claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Ethiopians.
Islamist-led insurgents have been fighting the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies since the New Year when they were ousted from Mogadishu in a two-week offensive.
Large-scale battles have given way to guerrilla-style attacks, and the overnight strikes on the Ethiopian troop positions were the heaviest attacks since last month.
