Fighting

Baidoa - Somalia's Islamic fighters have seized control of a strategic village near the Ethiopian border, the group said on Saturday.Fighters loyal to the radical Union of Islamic Courts group routed pro-government militia from the village of Jawill, some 15km from the Ethiopian border. The only roads between Ethiopia and central Somalia pass through the village."The militiamen who controlled this village had a good relationship with Ethiopia so we decided they were an obstacle to our control in the region," said Hassan Abdirahman, whose Islamic fighters carried out the operation. "Some 200 fighters carried out the attack, he said.Local resident Abdi Risaq told The Associated Press by telephone that three pro-government militiamen and one fighter with the Union of Islamic Courts were killed during Friday's gunbattle for the village.