Somalia

9.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 30th Jun 2006

Somalia's flag

With everyone's attention on the Middle East Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia, it appears at the invitation of the Government (and have US backing) to tackle the Union of Islamic Courts . Although it is quite murky and not very clear what is happening this surely cannot be good news.

Reports suggest that Ethiopian troops are present in Baidoa and Waajid. Baidoa is where the President Abdullahi Yusuf's Government is currently based. The Government controls very little of the country with the Union of Islamic Courts controlling much of the country, including Mogadishu and consolidating their control with some recent military success and other successes such as re-opening Mogadishu airport for commercial flights and providing security for (some) civilians.