By Hassan Yare MOGADISHU, Dec 6 (Reuters) - About 500 Ethiopian troops were spotted in Somalia on Wednesday along a main supply route to the government stronghold in Baidoa, as rains and floods stalled a feared march to war in other parts of the country. The column of soldiers along with four "technicals" -- pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons that are the standard combat vehicle in the poor, anarchic Horn of Africa nation -- passed through Hudur in a rare daytime sighting. "I saw a convoy of Ethiopian trucks carrying troops travelling in the middle of the town this afternoon," Mukhtar Abdi, a resident of Hudur, told Reuters by telephone. "They moved and are 5 km (3 miles) south of the town at the main water supply well." Tensions have risen in Somalia since June when Islamist fighters took over the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords and moved on to wrest territory from the government now isolated in the southern town of Baidoa. Fears that foreign involvement in Somalia could spark a regional war have grown amid reports arch foes Eritrea and Ethiopia could use the country as a proxy battleground, with Eritrea backing the Islamists and Ethiopia the government. In recent weeks, a combination Somalia's torrential rains and tattered infrastructure -- the result of 15 years of anarchy since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 -- has limited troop movements. Some experts say combat is unlikely to break out until the rains -- which the U.N. says have affected about 350,000 in the usually arid nation -- taper off, likely later this month. "MAINLY INFANTRYMEN" Security experts and diplomats estimate between 5,000 and 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers are inside Somalia to prop up the Western-backed government. Hudur is directly north of Baidoa, about half the distance to the Ethiopian border. A businessman in Hudur, Abdishakur Ali Adan, told Reuters by phone: "These troops were mainly infantrymen." Both estimated the strength of the force at about 500, and a local administration official who declined to be named confirmed their presence. Ethiopia makes a distinction between fighting soldiers and military trainers, several hundred of which it admits to having sent to Baidoa. "We have made our position crystal clear that we have no troops inside Somalia," Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekele said. But the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which has eclipsed the government as the country's premier military and political force, says they are there as invaders and has threatened holy war against Addis Ababa and anyone who sides with them. (Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle)
