Somalia's Islamic movement abandoned the nation's capital today and clan militiamen poured into the streets to take control of Mogadishu, as government forces approached to within 18 miles.

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Mogadishu International Airport in the middle of Somalia’s capital today.

The leader of Somalia’s Islamic radicals today urged Ethiopians to revolt against their government, which he described as an oppressive regime led by an unpopular minority ethnic group.

Ethiopian troops in armoured vehicles rolled into the central Somali town of Baidoa today and set up a camp near the home of the interim president, residents said, less than a day after Islamic militants reached the outskirts of the base of a UN-backed, but largely powerless government.

A top official in Somalia’s Islamic militia said his forces will soon seize the base of the country’s weak interim government, a move that would give radical militants uncontested authority over much of the country.