The Islamic group said they came under attack close to the border of the semiautonomous region of Puntland in the country's north, a region which has close ties to Ethiopia and has so far resisted the spread of the Islamic courts, who control most of Somalia.

The fighting was the first since peace talks aimed at averting an all-out war in the country collapsed. It also comes amid fears that Somalia is teetering on the brink of a war that could engulf the entire Horn of Africa region.

"Our troops were attacked by Ethiopian-backed Puntland militias," said Sheik Yusuf Mohamed Siyad Indhaade, national security chairman for the Islamic courts. He said that no casualties were reported from the fighting and that the Islamic militia had repulsed the attack.

The Japan Times Weekly: Nov. 11, 2006
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