Somalia's El-Ali town is at least the second town Ethiopian troops have vacated in recent weeks, after abandoning nearby Moqokori ©Tobin Jones (AU UN IST/AFP/File)
"We have been making a very conscious and responsible decision to evacuate our forces from many parts of Somalia. We cannot remain there indefinitely."
Reda said the domestic challenge represented by the unprecedented months of sometimes deadly anti-government protests was not "enormous enough for us to shift our policy in Somalia".
Ethiopian troops deployed to fight Shabaab militants in Somalia have left towns in the western Bakool and Hiraan regions in recent weeks, allowing the insurgents to immediately reclaim them.
Most recently, Tiyeeglow in Bakool region was abandoned on Wednesday and hours later Shabaab fighters moved in.
"We were informed about the pullout of the Ethiopian troops and this morning they have proceeded with their plan to vacate the town," said Abdulahi Moalim Hassan, a security official in Hudur, the nearby district capital.
"We are not sure about the fate of Hudur as well," he added. "People are worried and they are not relying on the Ethiopian troops anymore."
Reda said the withdrawn troops were not from Ethiopia's 4,400-strong contingent of the internationally-funded African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM, but rather were some of the "few thousands" deployed in Somalia unilaterally for which his government is "paying all the expenses".
"These troops are not under AMISOM and unfortunately are not being helped in their efforts to assist the Somali national army," said Reda.
He said AMISOM troops were not affected and neither were all non-AMISOM forces being withdrawn. Read more here
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