MOGADISHU, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Heavily armed Ethiopian troops crossed over into some villages in Somalia's central border town of Beledweyne and arrested some villagers they suspected of being Islamist sympathizers, witnesses said on Sunday.

    Hundreds of troops in military trucks entered three villages west of the town of Beledweyne, witnesses said. The Ethiopian troops arrived in the area in late Saturday afternoon, carried out searches and detained several people they suspected of having links with Islamist fighters.

    "They had several trucks and a lot of heavy weapons. After they came in, they began arresting men, young men in the villages," Mohamoud Gure, an elder in one of the villages told Xinhua.

    Neither Somali government officials nor Ethiopia commented on the reported crossover into Somalia.

    The troops who have previously made similar incursions into Somalia, reportedly withdrew from some of the villages and it is not clear if they are headed towards Beledweyn town, 300 km north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

    Islamists from the two main Islamist factions of Hezbul Islam and Al-Shabaab control of much of south and center of Somalia and forces loyal to Hezbul Islam have recently taken over the town of Beledweyn on the Somalia-Ethiopia border.

    Ethiopia withdrew its troops from Somalia early in the year after nearly two-year presence in the war-torn country during which it has faced deadly insurgency by Islamist fighters.

    Meanwhile, Islamist Al-Shabaab movement on Sunday threatened to attack neighboring Kenya over reports that Kenya was helping Somalia recruit Kenyans of ethnic Somalis as soldiers, a claim vehemently denied by the Somali government.

    Kenya supports the Somali government and has on a number of occasions been threatened for that by Somali Islamist rebel groups who wage a deadly insurgency against the Somali government and African Union peacekeeping forces in Mogadishu.