Eight members of militant group al Shabaab were arrested for plotting to kidnap U.N. workers and take them to Somalia to demand a ransom, the Ethiopian intelligence agency said, Reuters reported March 25.

Fighters from Somali hard-line Islamist militia al Shabaab on Jan. 2 captured Awdinle, a village in southwestern Somalia near Baydhabo where hundreds of militiamen trained by the Ethiopian military arrived recently under escort of Ethiopian troops, witnesses said, the pro-al Shabaab website Somali Memo reported Jan. 3.

An al Shabaab ambush on an Ethiopian military convoy Dec. 13 in southwest Somalia's Bay region left at least 10 dead and another 15 wounded, Radio Gaalkacyo reported.