According to Ethiopian military officials over 700 Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'ah fighters have completed their training in Ethiopia.

The fighters are said to have come from Gedo Region [southwestern Somalia] where Al-Shabab Movement controls. The fighters are further said to have been part of the ousted administration of the region.

A spokesman for the Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'ah group, Shaykh Isma'il Sufi, said another group of their fighters will soon start their training in Ethiopia.

Shaykh Sufi said the trained officers will defend the Muslim country from foreign criminals.

Shaykh Isma'il Sufi and his forces were earlier this year ousted from the Gedo Region as part of the fighting between warring religious groups that is also going on in central regions.

Islamists opposed to Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'ah have earlier accused Ethiopia of supplying arms to the group in their fighting against anti-government Islamist groups.