Several hundred Ethiopian troops crossed on Saturday into southern and central Somalia, local elders said, but Addis Ababa dismissed the reports as ‘absolutely not true.’

‘There are several hundred Ethiopian troops here in lorries and some armoured vehicles too,’ said elder Abdi Ibrahim Warsame, speaking by telephone from Gurel town, in Somalia’s central Galgudud region.

Ethiopian forces were also reported in the Hiran region at the town of Beletweyne, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) into Somalia, an area contested by Islamist al-Shabaab rebels and pro-government militia.

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Somalia’s Islamist rebels attacked government and African Union troops positions in the war-torn capital, killing four civilians and wounding 12 others, officials and witnesses said Friday.

Heavy fighting broke out late Thursday around four positions held by AU-backed government forces and included heavy machinegun fire and mortar rounds, with reports that civilian houses were caught in the crossfire.

“Terrorists launched desperate attacks on our military positions on Thursday night, but they were repelled with heavy losses, after targeting three positions in the south and one in the northern part of the city,” said Colonel Ahmed Ibrahim, a Somali government military official.

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Syrian army defectors have attacked a major military base near Damascus, a Syrian opposition group says.

Parts of the Air Force Intelligence building in Harasta were destroyed in the overnight attack, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

The Free Syrian Army used rockets and machine-guns, it said, in its highest-profile attack since protests began.

It comes as the Arab League prepares to discuss its response to the crackdown on anti-government unrest in Syria.

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At least 40 people have been killed in violence in Syria, rights groups and activists say, as pro- and anti-government forces reportedly clashed in Deraa province and elsewhere, with protests against Bashar al-Assad’s government continuing.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that security forces shot dead at least 16 civilians across the province of Deraa, where protests against Assad first began in earnest.

However, local activists in Deraa told the Reuters news agency that the death toll from clashes between forces loyal to Assad, the Syrian president, and those who have joined protesters against his rule could be as high as 40.

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Putting the onus of peace talks on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, the Maoists in a letter to the interlocutors, publicised on Monday, called off the mutual cease-fire agreed earlier.

“The one-month cease fire agreement we entered with you has expired Oct 30. Since then, there has been no communication on the issue either from the government or you. In wake of this, we declare the end of cease-fire,” read the letter dated Oct 31 and signed by Communist Party of India-Maoist state secretary Akash.

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Leaders of the four opposition parties formed the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) on Friday and declared that they would overthrow the regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) “using all available means.”

The parties participating in the second meeting of the SRF were the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Army-Abdel Wahid (SLA-AW), Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM).

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At least 8 people were injured as violent clashes broke out in the early morning of Friday in Mansoura City in Aden when tribesmen looted the city’s Local Authority building.

Eyewitnesses said that the militants were seen carrying machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).

The tribesmen came from the southern governorate of Shabwah, led by Sheikh Hassan Banan al-Awlaki, who declared his support to the Southern Secessionist Movement years ago.

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