By Ahmed Mohamed

BAIDOA, Somalia, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Somali insurgents killed two Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers in the southern town of Baidoa on Wednesday, residents said.

Baidoa is the seat of Somalia’s parliament. Businesses in the centre halted as dozens of government soldiers, who are backed by the Ethiopian Woyanne military, began searching pedestrians, vehicles and shops for weapons.

“Men armed with pistols shot dead two Ethiopian Woyanne troops in the centre of town this morning,” witness Abdulqadir Mohamed said. “The bodies lay in the street for nearly half an hour.”

A Reuters reporter saw Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers arrest five men.

Somalia’s interim government and its Ethiopian Woyanne

At least seven people, including four policemen, were killed in the capital Mogadishu on Monday in the heaviest fighting for weeks between [the Woyanne-backed] government forces and suspected insurgents.

(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Giles Elgood)