BELETWEIN, Somalia July 12 (Garowe Online) - Forces loyal to Somalia's Islamic Courts movement seized a Toyota truck on Saturday and detained the driver in the regional town of Beletwein, sources said.

Beletwein residents awakened to Islamist fighters conducting search-and-seize operations, with locals reporting that several people were arrested for allegedly having "ties" with the Ethiopian military.

One Islamist spokesman told reporters that the operation is intended to "cut off" supplies to Ethiopian troops stationed at Janta Kundisho camp, in the eastern outskirts of Beletwein.

Much of the central region of Hiran is under the control of Islamist militias, including the provincial capital of Beletwein.

Somalia's interim government, and its Ethiopian military backers, has failed to assert real authority in any part of the country as Islamist rebels continue to wage a guerrilla war since early 2007.

A peace agreement signed in June between the government and an Islamist-led, Eritrea-based opposition group called for a ceasefire agreement but fighting continues in many parts of Somalia.

Source: Garowe Online