Aug 07, 1998 Eastern
MOGADISHU, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Ethiopian forces on Friday withdrew from the town of Bulo Hawo in southwestern Somalia which they captured on Thursday, witnesses said.
Ethiopia withdrew all of its armoured vehicles and tanks from the town on Thursday morning leaving only a small group of army personnel with telecommunications equipment, said the witnesses who were contacted by short-wave radio.
The forces retreated to the border town of Dolow, they said.
Ethiopian government officials were unavailable for comment on the reports on Thursday and Friday. No one was killed or detained by the Ethiopians, witnesses said.
Ethiopian troops moved into the Bulo Hawo on Thursday in an apparent attamept to quash a peace agreement between two rival Somali factions, a local leader said.
But it was unclear whether the forces achieved their objective.
Ethiopia invaded Gedo region in June 1997 and twice in 1996 to oppose Al-Ittihad Al-Islam (Islamic Unity), a fundamentalist Somali group.
Ethiopia accuses Islamic fundamentalists of a series of bomb attacks on soft targets in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
An official from the Somali National Front (SNF) faction which signed a peace deal with Al-Ittihad Al-Islam faction earlier this week, said Ethiopian military officials held a meeting with SNF leaders and clan elders in the town late on Thursday.
Somali politicians said the presence of Ethiopian forces in Dolow was a threat to the stability of the region.
As part of the peace agreement the 280 km (170 mile) road between the town of El-Adde where the deal was signed and Bulo Hawo was opened to traffic and commercial activities for the first time in more than two years.