MOGADISHU, Somalia (Reuters) -- Ethiopian warplanes attacked two Islamist-held airfields Monday in Somalia, including in the capital, Mogadishu, in the most dramatic strikes yet of a war threatening to engulf the Horn of Africa.
Witnesses said the attacks came hours after neighboring Ethiopia formally declared war, saying it was protecting its sovereignty against an Islamist movement.
[...]
The week of intense fighting between Islamists and the Ethiopian- and Western- backed secular interim government has turned long-running hostilities into open war.
Analysts say Ethiopia seems to have halted the initial Islamist assault and saved the government from being overrun.
For now...
What's America going to do this time around? They certainly don't want a replay of Blackhawk Down.
Update: The New York Times has more:
Ethiopia officially plunged into war with Somalia’s Islamist forces on Sunday, bombing targets inside Somalia and pushing ground troops deep into Somali territory in a major escalation that could turn Somalia’s internal crisis into a violent religious conflict that engulfs the entire Horn of Africa.
The coordinated assault was the first open admission by Ethiopia’s Christian-led government of its military operations inside Somalia, where — with tacit American support — it has been helping a weak interim government threatened by forces loyal to the Islamic clerics who control the longtime capital, Mogadishu, and much of the country.
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According to witnesses, Ethiopian fighter jets bombarded several towns, obliterating an Islamist recruitment center and other targets, while Ethiopian tanks rolled into battle. The attacks set off riots in Mogadishu, Somalia’s battle-scarred seaside capital, and fighting on several fronts in southern Somalia.
reportedly, the Somali Islamists have shut down schools and are using child soldiers while the US is funding the Ethopian military to the tune of millions of dollars. That is a no-win situation. Thousands of child soldiers will die at the hands of a military trained and paid for by the US government. How do you justify killing children who have no choice but to fight?
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